Q3: Who is doing this right? What successes can you share?  

Dietz: There are so many wonderful examples of public sector agencies and other organizations applying analytics to address climate resilience. For example:  

• The Town of Cary in North Carolina, where I live, uses IoT analytics and sensor data to predict and manage flood events. Data-driven decisions are one outcome of the Town of Cary's efforts, but they also use analytics to support improved planning and development so new development projects are vetted to prevent flooding in the future.
• In the Netherlands, where water management is essential, Rijkswaterstaat employs sensors on critical water infrastructure, collects that data and analyzes it, with the goal of keeping its waterways safe and efficient.
• SAS has partnered with Malala Fund to develop a Girls Education and Climate Challenges Index predictor. By combining both climate and education data sets, SAS was able to analyze climate risk across multiple indicators, covering everything from grade-level completion and assessment scores to flooding, tsunamis and earthquakes. The index identifies countries where girls are most at risk of experiencing educational interruptions and predicts the changes in completion rates of primary and secondary education due to climate change.

Hunt: Many in agriculture are working on the issue of food waste and, certainly, there is broad acknowledgment that more can be done. Forecasting software is one way of helping to pinpoint inventory levels for highly perishable foods, which reduces food waste at grocery stores. Beyond the supply chain, analytics provide critical research breakthroughs for more sustainable food systems too.

For instance, biotechnology company Boragen is combining crop science with data science to speed technology commercialization for more sustainable fruit and vegetable production.   

Williams: With bipartisan support in the legislature, our governor here in North Carolina recently signed into law a milestone energy bill, one that aims to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Our Senate Republican leader described the law as a “pro-economic growth measure” and the Senate Democratic leader said that “we’re putting into law the roadmap for a sustainable future for our children and our grandchildren.” Prior to that, he enacted NC Executive Order 80 – signed at our solar farms here at SAS, to boot.