Following the ESOMAR Citizens Insight 2026 Summit – Democracy in focus, Verian Group President Michelle Harrison sets out a clear challenge for the research and data sector: we are no longer simply observing societal change. We are helping to defend truth, strengthen democracy and shape the evidence ecosystem that public decision-making depends on.
Europe already has a robust citizen listening infrastructure when it comes to understanding public sentiment. Programmes such as Eurobarometer have built decades of comparable, methodologically rigorous insight across Member States, combining scale, consistency and speed.
The challenge is not to build something new, but to use what already exists more strategically and recognise these systems as critical evidence infrastructure and invest in them accordingly.
It also requires a shift in mindset. Delivering high-quality, cross-national evidence at this level is not a transactional exercise. It depends on partnership, shared accountability for methodological choices, and a joint commitment to maintaining standards over time. Long-term datasets are a public asset. Like any asset, they need sustained investment, stewardship and protection.
The drivers: geopolitical shift and social resilience
Today’s global landscape is being reshaped by a geopolitical tilt: a realignment of relationships between socioeconomics, demographics and values. This is playing out across energy transition and infrastructure, technology and innovation, values and liberty, and democratic resilience and crisis preparedness.
At the same time, societies are experiencing a loss of the centre: a weakening of shared consensus, compounded by technological disintermediation. People are more connected than ever, yet also more fragmented. This has profound implications for how governments listen, respond and act.
There is also a new battle for social and democratic resilience. The warning signs are visible: changing socio-economic correlations, declining trust in institutions, rising loneliness and social atomisation, and growing challenges around information integrity.
Our data reinforces the point. Across the G7, perceptions of gender equality in leadership, measured by the Reykjavík Index, have declined from an average of 72 in 2018 to 68 in 2025. Patterns vary by country, with some improvements, but the broader picture suggests cultural pushback and a widening generational divide. Younger cohorts are reporting lower trust and different cultural attitudes than older groups.
This matters because these trends intersect. Falling trust, declining civic participation, loneliness and exposure to misinformation can reinforce one another. Loneliness, in particular, is becoming a wicked social problem: not simply a personal experience, but a systemic risk to cohesion. When people feel disconnected from institutions and from each other, they become more vulnerable to misinformation and anti-democratic narratives.
The solutions: two-speed thinking, innovation and data
Evidence-based policymaking remains essential, but only if robust evidence exists. The task for governments and institutions is to work at two speeds: responding quickly to immediate pressures while continuing to invest in the long-term evidence systems that make better decisions possible.
That means strengthening the full evidence-to-action cycle. First, decision-grade data must measure people’s values, attitudes, resources and needs at population level. Second, policy development and evaluation must use that evidence to design, test and improve interventions. Third, behavioural and communications work must connect with citizens at scale, using evidence to reach the right people in the right way.
Innovation has a vital role to play, but only when it strengthens rigour. Mixed-mode designs, better sampling, and smarter use of administrative and third-party data are advancing public opinion research. AI is also moving quickly, supporting translation, questionnaire design and data integration. But new tools do not replace expertise; they depend on it.
The dividing line is transparency. Innovation that holds up keeps the method visible. As expectations rise, it is no longer enough to claim capability. Organisations must demonstrate how evidence is produced, how standards are maintained and how quality is protected. This is especially important for AI, where consistency, accountability and shared standards will be critical.
The role of the data ecosystem
The sector’s role has never been more important. The geopolitical tilt has put research and data at the heart of democratic resilience. For the first time, we are confronting the loss of a shared notion of truth - a challenge that affects both society and the data ecosystem itself.
Our response must be collective: stronger partnerships between researchers, policymakers and commissioners; greater protection for decision-grade evidence; responsible innovation; and meaningful self-regulation.
Defending truth is not a slogan. It is a practice, built through methodological rigour, institutional trust and long-term stewardship of the evidence democracies rely on.
.svg)
Back
_16x9.png)
