Toward precision governance: infusing data into public management of environmental hazards

ABSTRACT

Precision governance is an administrative capacity in which policy decisions are enhanced with information about individual and collective preferences and contexts. We introduce the prospects for precision governance of natural hazards through the use of both big and individual data technologies, describing what is enabled and what concerns arise with their use. We ground our perspective with a topical focus on mitigating the health risks of high temperatures in the chronically hot setting of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. A study examining individually experienced temperature data provides compelling evidence that the transition towards data-driven precision governance will enhance hazard preparedness and response efforts.

KEYWORDS:

• Governance
• hazards
• heat
• health
• sensors

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Keren Hirsch at the Center for Policy Informatics at Arizona State University for editing the manuscript, as well as Sharon Harlan at Northeastern University and Ben Ruddell at Arizona State University for their support of research projects discussed herein.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Virginia G. Piper Health Policy Informatics Initiative at Arizona State University and by the National Science Foundation under grant number BCS-1026865, Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER).

Notes on contributors

David M. Hondula

David Hondula is an Assistant Professor of Climatology and Atmospheric Science in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University. His research explores the societal impacts of weather and climate with an emphasis on extreme heat and health. Hondula has a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia.

Evan R. Kuras

Evan Kuras is a Masters of Science student at the University of Massachusetts. Kuras studies how people use urban space and experience the hazards and amenities linked to those spaces. His current work focuses on contact between children and urban biodiversity, especially wildlife like frogs and bugs. Kuras has a B.A. in Biology from Boston University.

Justin Longo

Justin Longo is the Cisco Systems Research Chair in Big Data & Open Governance and an Assistant Professor in the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Regina. His research areas of interest include digital governance, computer-supported collaboration, and environmental sustainability. Longo has a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from the University of Victoria.

Erik W. Johnston

Erik Johnston is the Director of the Center for Policy Informatics at Arizona State University and a core faculty in the MacArthur Research Network for Opening Governance. His research explores the role of policy informatics in opening governance to include more useful public participation, experimentation, and evidenced-based decision-making. Johnston has a Ph.D. in Information from the University of Michigan.