Established Data Infrastructure Enables Local Governments to Meet Need During Natural Disasters & Health Emergencies

In part 1 of this series, we discussed examples of data use specifically related to COVID-19. In this post, we broaden our lens to consider how state and local governments can leverage their data assets to respond more effectively to future natural disasters and health emergencies. Importantly, we find that communities that invest in developing strong data-sharing relationships and data infrastructure prior to a crisis have a leg up, and provide examples of ways in which several have rapidly adapted to meet emerging needs and improve equity.