PIFs tackle thorny tech issues - the environment needs more of them
By Reed Van Beveren, Senior Manager of Technology Policy
Technology has the potential to improve environmental outcomes, but using tech productively is often much more about people and processes than the technology itself. Agencies need to be able to leverage the expertise of technologists to truly move the needle and seize some of the biggest opportunities for change. That’s where Presidential Innovation Fellows come in.
Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIFs) are a group of talented and diverse individuals who work with federal agencies to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing our nation. They bring their expertise in design, engineering, data science, product management and more to create solutions that improve the lives of millions of Americans, but federal agencies with environmental missions have not consistently taken advantage of the opportunity to bring on PIFs. It’s time that changed.
Agencies have the opportunity to submit projects that PIFs could take on through July 30, 2023 and there are so many environmental problems that need our attention, such as climate change, plastic pollution, deforestation and biodiversity loss. Here are some of the technology projects geared toward environmental progress that I would love to see PIFs take on next year:
Redesigning Pathways for Tech Providers: To help design, build, pilot, and deploy new technologies, governments and technology providers need to partner, but matching government problems to technological solutions is usually slow going. Part of the problem is that the information needed to orient tech providers to environmental programs and help them pursue the appropriate pathways is scattered. PIFs excel at tackling customer experience and design challenges, and would be well placed to redesign the user experience for technology providers.
Integrated Wetland Data Strategy: Wetlands are important assets for communities and ecosystems. They offer natural flood protection to cities and towns across the country and are rich in biodiversity, including more than one-third of the United States’ threatened and endangered species. But the data to understand where they are, where they are being impacted, and where they are being restored are all disconnected. To truly understand whether we can meet goals like no net loss of wetlands, we need systems that talk to each other and datasets that are standardized enough to be analyzed together. PIFs often take on technology and digital strategy work and could accelerate efforts to better understand wetlands.
Helping Innovative Uses of Tech Spread: Environmental work is inherently local. As a result, it's no surprise that agencies with environmental missions are organized into tons of regions, districts, and field offices. Some of these outposts experiment with new and promising uses of technology, but to truly realize the benefits, these efforts need to be known and scalable to other parts of the organization. This requires well thought out channels for sharing information and experience, ideally incorporating low-effort & automated approaches, with procurement strategies that are designed to scale as needed. PIFs would be well positioned to think about the people, processes, and tools that can enable this in specific agencies.
Integrating Planning and Permitting Tools: Infrastructure permitting is full of opportunities that PIFs could take on. One opportunity would be to find ways to better incorporate useful planning tools, such as IPaC (streamlines the USFWS environmental review process) and RIBITS (tracks mitigation opportunities and benefits), into workflows associated with the NEPA process. Finding ways to reduce redundant data entry and visualize relevant information by making systems talk to one another is one of the principal ways of accelerating the NEPA process. PIFs could be helpful in designing and implementing the build-out of the digital infrastructure that would be required to make this happen.
Designing a Proving Ground for Environmental Monitoring: Environmental monitoring is fundamental to the work of many agencies, and new technological approaches are emerging at a staggering pace, from acoustic sensors that monitor wildlife to automated wetland detection using satellites. Many environmental programs fund research to better understand these technologies and even pilot them on a case-by-case basis, but these efforts are disjointed. Developing a “proving ground” and systematic process for evaluating monitoring technologies could speed up their adoption and provide a needed focal point for interagency collaboration, drawing inspiration from GSA’s Green Proving Ground and Pilot-to-Portfolio programs that help vet and select innovative technology for federal building managers. A PIF could lay out a vision that incorporates the best of what already exists.
These are just some examples of environmental technology projects that a Presidential Innovation Fellows could take on next year. Of course, there are many more possibilities and challenges out there that need attention and creativity. What do you think? What are some other environmental technology projects that you would like to see Presidential Innovation Fellows work on next year? Let me know by email at reed@policyinnovation.org.
