The purpose of this paper is to ask and answer foundational questions concerning the collection of meaningful information about policy stance towards digital trade. Such information can inform deliberation on the design, implementation, and reform of relevant state intervention, on their cross-border effects, and on the potential for international cooperation, including in the form of trade agreements. We summarise and then reflect upon how three other initiatives mapped trade-related aspects of the digital economy. We then depart from these form-based mappings and argue that, for the purposes of policy deliberation about the multi-faceted nature of digital trade policies, an attribute-based approach is preferable, so long as it is sustained over a number of years.