Q4: What is an aspirational, yet attainable, vision for the impact of analytics?
Siddiqi: Analytics can help identify industries, sectors, and regions most at risk from physical and climate transition risks. This should help drive investments and governmental/NGO actions in the right places – making better use of time and taxpayer funds.
Espy: Data analytics should play a key role in enabling government agencies to make good decisions that enhance our current environmental regulations and improve the conditions of our water and environment. “We have oceans of data, but trickles of insight,” a colleague recently said. The use of sound analytics can flip this narrative.
Seifi: Analytics can lead to a data-driven culture where our policymakers have more tools that make a difference for society. Governments across the world need to work together to fight global problems, and I strongly believe that data will be the universal language that brings clarity and new insights to help them collectively address their challenges.
Hunt: Analytics can provide the tools needed to support the continued innovation and adaptation of our energy, food and transportation systems. Self-driving electric cars, for instance, will be powered by analytical models that make safer decisions on the road, connect electricity resources in real-time, and facilitate a dynamic, liquid market for sharing rides and power within the system.
Analytical models are the heart of the internet of things. It stacks modules on top of one another, just like the internet. Businesses and governments are already focusing on well-scoped, smaller analytical deployments, while keeping an eye on how these systems may converge, to deliver a new, carbon-neutral economy that provides more and improved services at a lower cost.
Williams: The role of analytics and the ability to better access and understand data will be a tremendous asset in the fight to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Given the exponentially increasing amount of data from smart/AI/IoT-enabled technologies, the opportunities are unlimited and to date, largely, untapped.
Using analytics as a tool to drive unbiased, data-driven approaches will be key to solving environmental issues and setting a course of action for sound climate policies resulting from data, research and collaboration.
