Data collection is the primary link in the value chain of the think tank and it plays an important role in the research of the think tank. This paper first selects more than ten think tanks with reference value in the 2015 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, then summarizes the data collection strategies of foreign think tank institutions through network research and literature research. It is found that the existing traditional information collection strategies and methods of the think tank cannot adapt to the data characteristics in the big data environment. This paper studies the current application of new acquisition technologies and the data value chain theory and comes to a conclusion that think tanks should take the following measures the data collection as soon as possible: the realization of data acquisition automation, the development of data collection rules and the construction of the think tank knowledge base to process resource semantic.