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OTT is a global platform dedicated to promoting better informed policy.

Our story

OTT started in 2010 as a personal blog to explore think tanks and their role in supporting evidence-informed policymaking.

Over the years, with support from the Hewlett Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, IDRC and others, the blog grew into a global platform, adding services and initiatives by and for think tanks and other actors in the evidence informed policy ecosystem.

Our team includes individuals living and working in six continents. Visitors to our site, courses and events come from over 160 countries, making us a truly global community.

What we do

We believe that decisions are better when they are informed by evidence, and for this we need credible, sustainable, connected and ethical policy research communities around the world. OTT supports this mission through:

Our community

OTT convenes, connects and creates space for exchange between think tanks and other policy actors around the world. You can take part in our annual global conferences or regional events, join a community of practice or community forum. You can sign up for our monthly newsletter, use our jobsboard to recruit new talent or find think tank job opportunities, and join in the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.

Learning opportunities

OTT offers training for think tanks, thinktankers and policy entrepreneurs through free webinars, our School for Thinktankers and fellowship programme. Learning covers a range of topics from think tank leadership and governance, to research, communications, finance and fundraising. We also provide space for exchange of best practice and experience between think tanks through our best practice series and blog.

Knowledge on think tanks and evidence informed policy

OTT publishes research on think tank operations – such as their governance and management, or funding and support for think tanks- as well as cross cutting themes like, think tank credibility, public engagement, gender and think tanks, diversity in think tanks, or think tanks and technology. Our work also includes research into narratives, the political economy of evidence informed policy and more. Research and ideas are published in our working papers series, our annual reviews, and blog.

Our initiatives

Each year we run a number of different and new projects. Some of our favourites include: Latin America Evidence Week, the Open Think Tank Directory, and OTT TV.

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