A Robust Global Landscape Requires Groundwork in Robust Data Foundations
In the realm of environmental science, a new approach is gaining traction - one that combines storytelling with cutting-edge digital technology. This innovative strategy, as outlined in the peer-reviewed article "Toward a digital resilience" published in Elementa's Avoiding Collapse special feature on February 3, is set to revolutionise the way we tackle global challenges.
Decades of psychological studies have demonstrated the power of storytelling in shaping human attitudes, fears, hopes, and values. By harnessing this power, we can transmit academic knowledge into mainstream society and empower action. One such valuable tool is the "story map", a relatively new medium that combines data, photos, videos, and sounds within a digital map.
Partnerships with industry are crucial in this endeavour. Addressing environmental challenges requires resources and expertise that extend beyond the academic sphere. For instance, the Smithsonian Institution has created a story map depicting human influence on the planet and innovations promoting sustainability.
To be of societal value, digital data should be tagged and analysed, made available in a format that matches the user's needs, shared openly, and accompanied by workflows, use cases, and stories to build trust in the results. This approach is particularly important in preparing communities for, operating during, and recovering from natural and man-made disasters.
Digital technologies are already being used to understand the Earth's workings and help communities in practical ways. They aid in monitoring natural disasters, mapping insurance zones, tracking health epidemics, finding drinking water, alerting to temperature and precipitation changes, determining landscape vulnerability for land managers, monitoring air quality, and identifying solar panel installation positions.
Organisations like NOAA have established cooperative research and development agreements with tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, IBM, and the Open Commons Consortium to further this cause.
Dr. Dawn J. Wright, the Chief Scientist at ESRI, proposes three principles for ensuring the resilience of digital tools used to understand and cope with global change: Redundancy, Robustness, and Adaptability. Redundancy involves creating multiple ways to access and verify digital information, ensuring that if one system fails, others can compensate. Robustness refers to designing systems that maintain functionality under diverse and changing conditions, including cyber threats and environmental disruptions. Adaptability ensures digital tools can evolve in response to new scientific insights, user needs, and global change scenarios.
These principles focus on maintaining reliable, trustworthy, and flexible digital infrastructures that support long-term understanding and response to global environmental and societal challenges.
The Research Data Alliance, the Climate Data Initiative, and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems are all initiatives that foster public-private partnerships to enhance data use, data quality, and the adoption of data-sharing approaches and tools.
We now inhabit a "Digital Earth" composed of technologies that monitor, map, model, and manage virtually everything around us. With the power of storytelling and strategic partnerships, we can harness this digital earth to build a more resilient and sustainable future.
[1] J. Wright, D. (2018). Geospatial analysis, oceanography, and resilience science for global change. In S. J. Leatherman & S. J. Griggs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Coastal Science (pp. 1-14). Elsevier.
[2] J. Wright, D. (2016). Resilience science for global change. Elementa, 4, 1-15. doi:10.1525/elementa.177
- By integrating cutting-edge technology, such as data and cloud computing, into storytelling methodologies, we can create "story maps" that combine diverse elements like data, photos, videos, and sounds, aiming to transmit environmental science knowledge into mainstream society and encourage action against climate change.
- To build a more resilient and sustainable future, organizations like the Research Data Alliance, the Climate Data Initiative, and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems are fostering public-private partnerships. These collaborations aim to improve data use, data quality, and the adoption of data-sharing approaches and tools, ultimately turning our "Digital Earth" into a powerful resource for coping with global challenges, including climate change.
