597
stakeholder communication, engagement, and decision-making. This was illustrated in
Chap. 3, where we reviewed an array of metrics used to measure progress toward the
food, energy, and water objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Because of the importance of metrics in thinking about issues by the public and
decision-makers, society is itself molded by the utilization of metrics. As a result,
different stakeholders with different objectives often favor different metrics measured at different spatial and temporal scales. The evolution of metrics from those
used in the Millennium Development Goals to those used for the Sustainable
Development Goals reflect the values and objectives of a larger and more diverse
group of stakeholders as well as a more ambitious set of objectives.
Because the choice of metric constrains data collection and modeling, the
choice of metric has major scientific implications, too. Getting the metrics right is
very important. The central challenge of choosing metrics is to accurately reflect
desired social outcomes for both the near-term and the long-term while maximizing the ability of science to provide them. Near-term desired social outcomes
involve decision- making based on what we currently understand and value. Longterm desired social outcomes require recognizing that what we understand and
value will change, and future decision-makers will be locked-in to a greater or
lesser extent by the prior decisions. The student of FEW systems should guide the
choice of metrics in a way that both educates the public and decision-makers about
near-term decision- making and encourages them to think about future options for
decision. The process of choosing metrics in FEW systems provides an important
opportunity for science and non-science stakeholders to engage in discussions that
profoundly shape science, communication, education, and decision-making. Thus,
metrics are more than a tool to measure; they are an opportunity to frame future
decisions and actions.
21.3.4 Data
In Chap. 14, we noted that adequate data tends to be the limiting factor on the quality of our estimation, modeling, understanding, decision-making, and prediction.
While there is a lot of data about FEW systems, it is often challenging to locate,
access, or use given critical gaps. Common data scales often do not match the scales
of the decision-makers’ questions. FEW systems data cover a myriad of highly specialized public and private applications, and these are voluminous, complex, and
diverse with respect to data structure and standard, as well as the repositories that
handle each application. Data quality, management, and rules are essential concerns
for FEW systems. Fusing data for different parts of the FEW system remains a serious challenge.
However, significant advancements in management are underway. Improvements
in creating and deploying low-cost sensors for onsite and remote sensing, combined
with wired and wireless connectivity, and in fast computing power, give us ever better abilities to design, collect, curate, share, integrate, and utilize high-quality data.
21 Opportunities at the Nexus
stakeholder communication, engagement, and decision-making. This was illustrated in
Chap. 3, where we reviewed an array of metrics used to measure progress toward the
food, energy, and water objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Because of the importance of metrics in thinking about issues by the public and
decision-makers, society is itself molded by the utilization of metrics. As a result,
different stakeholders with different objectives often favor different metrics measured at different spatial and temporal scales. The evolution of metrics from those
used in the Millennium Development Goals to those used for the Sustainable
Development Goals reflect the values and objectives of a larger and more diverse
group of stakeholders as well as a more ambitious set of objectives.
Because the choice of metric constrains data collection and modeling, the
choice of metric has major scientific implications, too. Getting the metrics right is
very important. The central challenge of choosing metrics is to accurately reflect
desired social outcomes for both the near-term and the long-term while maximizing the ability of science to provide them. Near-term desired social outcomes
involve decision- making based on what we currently understand and value. Longterm desired social outcomes require recognizing that what we understand and
value will change, and future decision-makers will be locked-in to a greater or
lesser extent by the prior decisions. The student of FEW systems should guide the
choice of metrics in a way that both educates the public and decision-makers about
near-term decision- making and encourages them to think about future options for
decision. The process of choosing metrics in FEW systems provides an important
opportunity for science and non-science stakeholders to engage in discussions that
profoundly shape science, communication, education, and decision-making. Thus,
metrics are more than a tool to measure; they are an opportunity to frame future
decisions and actions.
21.3.4 Data
In Chap. 14, we noted that adequate data tends to be the limiting factor on the quality of our estimation, modeling, understanding, decision-making, and prediction.
While there is a lot of data about FEW systems, it is often challenging to locate,
access, or use given critical gaps. Common data scales often do not match the scales
of the decision-makers’ questions. FEW systems data cover a myriad of highly specialized public and private applications, and these are voluminous, complex, and
diverse with respect to data structure and standard, as well as the repositories that
handle each application. Data quality, management, and rules are essential concerns
for FEW systems. Fusing data for different parts of the FEW system remains a serious challenge.
However, significant advancements in management are underway. Improvements
in creating and deploying low-cost sensors for onsite and remote sensing, combined
with wired and wireless connectivity, and in fast computing power, give us ever better abilities to design, collect, curate, share, integrate, and utilize high-quality data.
21 Opportunities at the Nexus