Policy Analytics, Modelling, and Informatics: Innovative Tools for Solving Complex Social Problems

432 Pages·2018·9.14 MB·English

by  J Ramon Gil-Garcia

Public Administration and Information Technology 24
J Ramon Gil-Garcia
Theresa A. Pardo
Luis F. Luna-Reyes Editors
Policy
Analytics,
Modelling, and
Informatics
Innovative Tools for Solving Complex
Social Problems
Public Administration and Information
Technology
Volume 24
Series editor
Christopher G. Reddick, San Antonio, TX, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10796
J. Ramon Gil-Garcia • Theresa A. Pardo
Luis F. Luna-Reyes
Editors
Policy Analytics, Modelling,
and Informatics
Innovative Tools for Solving Complex Social
Problems
Editors
J. Ramon Gil-Garcia Theresa A. Pardo
Center for Technology in Government Center for Technology in Government
& Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Rockefeller College of Public Affairs
and Policy and Policy
University at Albany, State University University at Albany, State University
of New York of New York
Albany, NY, USA Albany, NY, USA
Luis F. Luna-Reyes
Center for Technology in Government
& Rockefeller College of Public Affairs
and Policy
University at Albany, State University
of New York
Albany, NY, USA
ISSN 2512-1812 ISSN 2512-1839 (electronic)
Public Administration and Information Technology
ISBN 978-3-319-61761-9 ISBN 978-3-319-61762-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-61762-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017950075
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To my Amores Nadia, Dante, and Julieta,
with my love, gratitude, and admiration
—J. Ramon Gil-Garcia
To my dear husband Manuel, with love
—Theresa A. Pardo
To Gabriela, my lifetime partner and friend
—Luis F. Luna-Reyes
Foreword
This volume is an important addition to the growing literature on the diverse ways
in which the collection, storage, and retrieval of data and their analysis and synthe-
sis, visualization and interpretation, and dissemination are influencing how we think
about evidence and its implications for the policy process. There is little doubt that
information and communication technologies have transformed how we communi-
cate and interact with each other. These technologies are also altering the ways in
which governments and their citizenry interact. For instance, through crowdsourc-
ing, local government is finding novel ways to be responsive to the needs of its citi-
zenry. Through ready access to certain types of data regarding the daily functions of
government, citizens find that there is also greater transparency regarding how the
government functions. In spite of this progress, it remains unclear whether
e- government, the utopian vision of the use of information and communication
technologies to enhance public participation and democratic governance, is becom-
ing a reality. What is clear, however, is that we have begun to be able to combine
these technologies with tools, techniques, and data to address common, yet com-
plex, policy issues.
With these new tools and techniques, we are currently, perhaps, at the stage
where approximately a century ago Ronald Fisher, W. S. Gosset, Jerzy Neyman,
Egon and Karl Pearson, and their contemporaries were when they were laying the
foundations of the theory and applications of statistics. Over the last century, statis-
tical thinking and methods have transformed how we have approached the system-
atic study of public policies and their implications. The chapters in this book
continue that tradition in the new context of policy analytics, computational model-
ing, informatics, simulation, visualization, and the use of administrative, blended,
and integrated data.
These chapters offer a grand tour of the potential of the novel combination of
technology, data, and methods to assist researchers, decision-makers, and practitio-
ners in their quest to address old and new policy concerns. They give us a flavor of
the energy and creativity of the growing policy analytics community of researchers
collaborating with practitioners to inform and support decision-making and admin-
istrative practice. This volume is more than a compilation of novel methods and
vii
viii Foreword
illustrations of their use. We also learn from these pages that there are a sufficient
number of use cases and associated methods that it is possible to develop a set of
principles and procedures that will guide the use of policy analytics to address pub-
lic sector issues. These principles and procedures will also inform how the govern-
ment and its citizenry interact with each other and how that interaction can occur in
a transparent fashion that is equitable and fair while preserving individual privacy
and maintaining security.
Big data and associated information systems alter how analysts detect violations
and enforce laws and regulations. They also help decision-makers respond system-
atically and promptly to crises as well as embark upon the longer, slower process of
recovery. The combination of geographical information systems with timely data on
changing conditions and mobile resources has enhanced the ability of governments
to deploy resources to mount effective responses in the face of what, in the past,
would have been insurmountable uncertainty attributable not only to ignorance but
also to poor communication and an inability to properly assess the received infor-
mation and react accordingly.
Policy simulations can serve multiple purposes. There are examples here of how
they can be used to describe a system, make explicit underlying processes, analyze
how that system might function, help generate hypotheses, and explore multiple
scenarios under varying assumptions. Perhaps, more useful than the analytical rigor
of the simulations is that collaborating on developing them allows modelers and
practitioners to mutually agree upon what is important to include in the model and
to clarify and make explicit values and underlying assumptions. This early involve-
ment by the potential users of the simulation’s output develops a realistic under-
standing of the simulation’s strengths and limitations. Such understanding is
essential as tools and techniques become more sophisticated and the potential gap
between those who conduct the analyses and those who would use their results also
grows. The systematic and collaborative exploration of the complexities regularly
encountered in policy contexts builds trust between analysts and practitioners and
potentially reduces the risk of misuse and misunderstanding of policy analytics.
This need for collaboration between analysts and practitioners also suggests a
change in the traditional role of data scientists, modelers, and analysts who are most
comfortable with rational reasoning and the production of rigorous evidence. As
indicated by the examples from the diverse policy contexts discussed in this volume,
policy discourse is much more complex; the arguments are often based on political
feasibility and pragmatism and involve belief, thought, and value systems that do
not necessarily adhere to rational norms. Some of the discussions in these chapters
illustrate how one might bridge the gap between the producers and consumers of
sophisticated analyses. Slightly outside their usual comfort zone, there is a new role
for analysts as knowledge and evidence brokers. The technology and the methods
provide a pathway for analysts to become brokers who not only help frame policy
questions such that they lend themselves to rigorous analysis but also produce
knowledge in a form that is usable and used.
This volume illustrates the potentially transformative power of technological
innovation for enhancing the ways in which analysts inform and support p olicy-m aking
Foreword ix
processes. At about the same time as the analytical developments of a century ago in
the United Kingdom, Woodrow Wilson, in the United States, was writing on public
administration and the role of professionals as reformers. A lesson to be learned from
that is that while it is important to get things “right,” it is also important to recognize
the limitations of what we know and to implement analytical innovations with an
appropriate level of flexibility to account for these limitations. The authors here seem
to be aware of that as they develop novel ways to build the evidentiary basis for effec-
tive public policies and their implementation and evaluation.
Anand Desai
Professor, John Glenn College of Public Affairs
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH, USA
Section Head, Evaluation and Assessment Capability
National Science Foundation
Arlington, VA, USA
Acknowledgments
This book is the result of the dedicated effort of many wonderful people who worked
together and apart to bring this volume to fruition. We take this opportunity to
express our sincere and deep regards and appreciation to all of those who helped and
supported us in the conception and completion of this work. Thank you to all the
authors for sharing your knowledge through this editorial project and your interest
in policy analytics, modeling, and informatics. This volume would not have been
possible without the hard work and collegiality of authors; reviewers; the series edi-
tor, Christopher Reddick; and the staff at Springer. A special thank you to all the
reviewers who not only gave their time and effort but also share their knowledge
through very useful and constructive comments that enhanced the book’s overall
quality and contribution to the field.
From the staff at Springer, we would like to mention the dedication and commit-
ment of Lorraine Klimowich during the entire process. We always received support
and useful guidance from her. We want also to thank Ana Catarrivas, whose dedica-
tion and diligent effort have been instrumental for the completion of this book. Her
role has been central in this editorial effort, and the editors are highly pleased with
the final result. We are also grateful to the Center for Technology in Government
and the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, University at Albany, from
which we have received strong institutional support and great encouragement and
motivation from colleagues and friends.
Finally, we send love and gratitude to our families. They have tirelessly encour-
aged us and wholeheartedly supported our academic adventures.
J. Ramon Gil-Garcia
Theresa A. Pardo
Luis F. Luna-Reyes
xi