Assessing National Information Ecosystems

The information environment is routinely described as “deteriorating” without the measurement frameworks needed to substantiate that claim or track change over time. Wanless, Lai, and Hicks address this gap directly, proposing a structured approach to measuring national information ecosystems across three domains: people, technologies, and outputs. The framework is designed not as a one-off assessment but as a repeatable methodology capable of generating baselines against which change can be tracked.

The methodological rigour here is rare in the field. Most analysis of information environments is either anecdotal or focused on discrete phenomena — individual platforms, specific influence operations, particular election cycles. This paper takes the harder path of trying to characterise the system as a whole. For governments and researchers seeking to move from rhetorical concern about information integrity to evidence-based policy, it offers the most credible available foundation.