Waste Not, Want Not: Maximizing Federal Spending on Environmental Data & Technology
Of this year’s $1.7 trillion federal budget, nearly $1 billion is reserved for environmental data initiatives. Roughly the same amount goes toward research using environmental technology.
In today’s era of environmental challenges, data plays a pivotal role in understanding, managing, and mitigating the impact of human activities on the planet. Federal environmental agencies, as the custodians of environmental data, have a vital responsibility to enhance their data stewardship capacity. By investing in robust data management practices and infrastructure, these agencies can significantly contribute to evidence-based decision-making, scientific research, and collaborative efforts to address growing environmental concerns.
Necessary Investments Given this Increase in Funding
While investments in data collection and processing are evident, the benefits of these investments are seriously dampened without bolstering federal capacity to:
Manage increasing volumes of data. Federal environmental agencies gather incredible amounts of data from multiple sources, including monitoring programs, satellite observations, citizen science initiatives, and collaborative research projects. With advancements in technology, the volume, velocity, and variety of environmental data are expanding rapidly. It is imperative for agencies to bolster their data stewardship capacity to effectively organize, store, and analyze their ever-growing collections of environmental data.
Ensure data accessibility and transparency. Data accessibility and transparency are vital for fostering collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and the public. Federal environmental agencies must adopt standardized data management practices and implement open data initiatives, making their datasets readily available to the scientific community and the general public. Improved access to data promotes reproducibility, allows for independent verification of research findings, and empowers stakeholders to participate actively in environmental decision-making processes.
Support evidence-based decision-making. Effective environmental management relies on evidence-based decision-making. By leveraging comprehensive and high-quality datasets, agencies can identify trends, assess the effectiveness of existing policies, and evaluate the environmental impacts of proposed regulations. Also, federal efforts to improve evidence-based decision-making are squarely in-line with directives under the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 which requires federal agencies to make their data (1) accessible and (2) the baseline to support future policymaking efforts.
Strengthen predictive modeling and analysis. Data stewardship capacity is fundamental for developing accurate predictive models and conducting sophisticated data analyses. Federal agencies can leverage advanced analytics techniques, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, to better synthesize and find applications for large and diverse data sets. Investments in both data infrastructure and expertise can improve the accuracy of environmental predictions, environmental siting and permitting decisions, and health impact assessments including environmental justice cumulative impact studies.
Data Stewards Play a Key Role in Realizing Goals
Technology providers play a key role in bolstering federal data capacity. Data stewardship demands the responsible collection, management, and sharing of data to ensure its integrity and usability. By partnering with technology providers and adopting “best practices,” federal environmental agencies can derive maximum value from their data assets. Some ways technology providers can support data stewardship efforts within the federal government include:
Supporting data governance. By offering data governance solutions, technology providers can help federal agencies establish robust policies, procedures, and standards for data management. These solutions typically include data cataloging, metadata management, data quality controls, and data lineage tracking. By implementing these tools, agencies can ensure data integrity, enforce compliance with regulations, and enable effective data sharing across different systems and stakeholders.
Boosting data integration and interoperability. Federal agencies often work with diverse data sources and systems that need to be integrated for a comprehensive view of their operations. Technology providers can offer data integration platforms and application programming interfaces (APIs) that facilitate streamlined data exchange and interoperability between different systems. This enables agencies to aggregate data and analyze data from different sources, leading to more informed, evidence-based decision-making.
Advancing analytics and data visualization. Working with technology providers, federal agencies can host more advanced analytics tools and data visualization platforms. These tools enable agencies to analyze large and complex datasets, identify patterns, trends, and correlations, and derive actionable insights. By visualizing data in intuitive and interactive dashboards, agencies can effectively communicate their findings to stakeholders, making data-driven decisions more accessible and understandable.
Leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence. Technology providers can support federal agencies in leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to unlock the potential of their data. Machine learning algorithms help agencies automate data processing, detect anomalies, and make predictions based on historical patterns.
Training and capacity building. Technology providers can offer training programs and capacity-building initiatives to enhance the data management skills of federal agency personnel. By empowering agency staff with the requisite knowledge and skills, technology providers can contribute to a culture of effective federal data stewardship.
As custodians of critical environmental data, federal environmental agencies play a pivotal role in addressing the pressing challenges facing our planet. By collaborating with technology providers, agencies can enhance their data stewardship capacity and maximize current investments in environmental data and technologies.
EPIC’s Tech team is committed to partnering with anyone, inside or outside of government, that wants to make a difference in these areas. Have ideas about how to get the best out of this year’s spending? Get in touch!