How can technology help bridge the gap between academic research and policy action?
In our second piece of this series, we delve into the exciting frontier of technology and its role in closing the divide between academia and policy. In particular, artificial intelligence (AI) offers a promising opportunity to enhance the accessibility of academic research. Imagine AI that can intelligently summarize research articles, translate findings into practical language, and provide actionable insights tailored for policymakers. While these technologies are not yet widely adopted, their potential is immense.
AI: A New Frontier for Knowledge Translation
Artificial intelligence could significantly simplify the process of converting academic language into accessible insights. AI-driven solutions are already capable of creating policy briefs from dense academic papers, allowing policymakers to grasp the key takeaways and take action. So why isn’t this standard practice? Even more, why should academics and policy experts not collaborate to further this technology? Think of potentials of field specific AI tools that can make knowledge translation truly rich and provide useful paths for further investigation. The more academics are involved, the better IT engineers can deliver very useful AI knowledge translation tools.
One forward-leaning example is OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which can summarize complex academic articles in seconds, providing policymakers with concise, easy-to-digest versions of otherwise inaccessible research. Similarly, Google’s DeepMind has developed tools like AlphaFold, which revolutionized protein folding studies, demonstrating that AI can unlock complex scientific insights and make them applicable in real-world contexts.
Another promising tool is IBM’s Watson, which has capabilities to process vast amounts of unstructured data, identify critical points, and generate policy-relevant insights. By leveraging Watson’s natural language processing, academic research can be turned into actionable intelligence that policymakers can readily understand and use.
More advanced applications involve integrating AI into existing decision-making workflows. For instance, technologies like Primer automate the analysis of large-scale government reports and data sets, transforming them into executive summaries that highlight key areas of focus. Imagine such a tool tailored for academic research: it could automatically convert the latest findings into practical recommendations, ensuring that policymakers have up-to-date information without being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data.
Furthermore, machine translation tools such as Google Translate, when paired with contextual AI systems, can help ensure that research is not only accessible in different languages but also culturally relevant. In many parts of the world, particularly Africa, policies need to be shaped with a deep understanding of local context. AI tools can enhance this by incorporating insights from local communities, bridging language gaps, and ensuring that policies reflect the voices and realities of those they impact.
By adopting these advanced AI tools and scaling their use across institutions, we can produce policy-relevant briefs quickly and accurately, making timely academic contributions possible. The focus should be on deploying these technologies widely, setting a new standard for knowledge translation, and integrating local cultural insights to ensure policies are both effective and context-specific. Of course, we are calling from more than a machine process or AI automation – we are actually calling for collaboration between academics and policy by way of making the cultural shift in the way we produce and disseminate knowledge and leveraging technology that starts with the human values of seeking knowledge and making knowledge useful.
The Road Ahead
Creating a world where academic knowledge leads policy change requires collaborative action from multiple sectors:
- Academics should focus on translating their research into briefs that are clear and actionable.
- Policymakers should build roles specifically for connecting research to policy issues, fostering relationships with researchers.
- Tech Companies should develop AI tools to simplify academic language, making it understandable and useful for everyone.
We have examples of what’s possible. When scholars and policymakers collaborate effectively, research can make a difference—in education, health, and beyond. The work of IRPIA shows what’s possible when the gap is bridged.
Call to Action: How can academia, policymakers, and technology providers work together to ensure that knowledge is seamlessly integrated into the decision-making process, fostering impactful and informed policies?
The future of policymaking hinges on our ability to turn research into action—where every insight drives change, and every decision builds a better, more informed world.
—Virginia Blaser, a retired senior U.S. diplomat and tech CEO, and Professor Abu Bah, founder of IRPIA, are co-authoring this series to address a longstanding issue they are both passionate about: making academic research more accessible and actionable for policymakers. Virginia’s extensive experience in diplomacy and policy, combined with Abu’s deep understanding of academia and research, uniquely positions them to explore how the worlds of policy and academia can better collaborate. Together, they bring insights from both sides of the divide, aiming to create practical solutions that will make academic knowledge a valuable tool for decision-makers globally.