How Can Government Best Strengthen Natural Resource Resilience

The report "Drought, Deluge, and Data: Success stories on emergency preparedness and response," produced in collaboration with the IBM Institute for Business Value and the National Academy of Public Administration, addresses how local governments can adapt to the increasing frequency and complexity of weather and climate activity.  The report highlights the importance of proactive measures in preparedness and response, emphasizing that resilience calls for anticipating, adapting, and enabling the right response ahead of a potential crisis – lessons helpful for all levels of government.

The report features a series of case studies that showcase innovative approaches to preparedness and response, focused on cases involving water resources.  Specifically, Texas' flood mapping initiative demonstrates how engaging local communities in data collection can improve emergency preparedness for all residents. Similarly, Colorado's integrated water and land use planning highlights the importance of collaboration across traditional silos and the use of advanced decision-support tools to address droughts and similar long-term threats. And in Jakarta, Indonesia, a crowdsourced flood response platform illustrates the power of digital technology and civic engagement in real-time event response. These examples demonstrate that resilience requires a deliberate strategy, forward-looking risk assessments, cross-sector partnerships, and digital innovation.

A key lesson from the report involves the importance of building networks before an event strikes. Effective crisis response depends on the strength of interconnected networks that span governments, nonprofit organizations, private-sector enterprises, and local communities. These networks often operate outside traditional hierarchies, but are essential for rapid and coordinated action during a crisis. The cases illustrate the effectiveness of establishing early relationships with key stakeholders, preemptively identifying potential risks and resources, and keeping communication channels open during non-crisis times to ensure swift and effective response efforts in moments of need.

The report also emphasizes how governments can leverage technology to enhance event preparedness and response. Predictive resilience involves using AI, data modeling, and real-time analytics to anticipate and mitigate risks before they escalate. Governments can integrate community-driven intelligence by crowdsourcing environmental risks, and develop preemptive response plans that align local, state, and federal agencies with private sector partners. Additionally, building a crisis response ecosystem that includes multisector crisis playbooks, open-source platforms, and community engagement can significantly improve response times and reduce recovery costs.

In addition, the report highlights the importance of designing for resilience, not just response. Governments can proactively embed resilience into infrastructure investments, urban planning, and governance. This includes flood mapping, water conservation strategies, digital risk assessments, regular scenario planning exercises, and adaptive technologies such as cloud-based event management platforms and social media-driven crisis monitoring. By doing so, governments foster adaptive, future-ready communities better equipped to handle shock events.

By building networks, leveraging technology, and designing for resilience, governments can help the public by becoming more adaptive. The report shows how government leaders can innovate, act, and transform to be better prepared for the future.