As a pilot study, the stakeholder assessment seeks to test the assessment methodology and identify areas that require additional research. The following topics merit further investigation. The pilot identified participants according to the stakeholder community to which they belonged. Furthermore, the scope of the pilot excluded an investigation of the relationship between stakeholders. Future research elucidating these linkages would contribute greatly to our understanding of climate information systems.
Researchers require information about how stakeholders use information.
Using focus groups, small group interviews and a web page survey, researchers can collect users' feedback on climate information products that have been provided in oral, written, and Internet presentations. One method by which to do this is to present respondents with examples of web sites and publications on climate. The pilot stakeholder assessment sought to distinguish between those who use climate information and those that do not. A weakness of the approach is that it is blind to the variability in degree and magnitude of climate impacts on stakeholders. A stakeholder assessment would be strengthened by a vulnerability assessment.