Commentary from Community Health and Environmental Policy

How to Ensure Quality Drinking Water Service for All? One Option Is Fewer Utilities.

California's Human Right to Water Bill declares that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water.” One clear barrier to reaching this target is the sheer number of small water utilities that pose service sustainability and public health risks to their customers.

David Catt, Michelle E. Miro, et al.

How Water Systems Can Learn From Smart Electric Grids

As drought and population growth place increasing pressure on water supply, the need to save and efficiently manage Southern California's water resources becomes increasingly critical. A single information and communication technology platform could go a long way toward moving water utilities from reactive to proactive maintenance practices.

Jalal Awan, Michelle E. Miro, et al.

Why AV Safety and Cybersecurity Need to Be Pursued in Tandem

Safety and cybersecurity are generally pursued by separate teams within autonomous vehicle companies. A joint approach to standards could optimize safety and cybersecurity and reduce overall risks to autonomous vehicle operation.

Marjory S. Blumenthal @MarjorySB

The Promise and Perils of AI: Q&A with Douglas Yeung

Douglas Yeung, a social psychologist at RAND, discusses how any technology reflects the values, norms, and biases of its creators. Bias in artificial intelligence could have unintended consequences. He also warns that cyber attackers could deliberately introduce bias into AI systems.

Resilience and Adaptation Strategies Can Address the Impacts of Climate Change

With climate change already generating storms, heat waves, and droughts beyond historical norms, local governments need to do more to prepare. A decisionmaking framework developed by RAND allows communities to stress-test ideas, weigh the trade-offs, and plan for a range of possible futures.

How to Make Roads Safer for Autonomous Vehicles

No matter how much developers test autonomous vehicles, the world will still present unforeseen circumstances for vehicles to navigate. Roadways and vehicle design could be modified to better accommodate both human error and the shortcomings of autonomous vehicle systems.

Laura Fraade-Blanar

State of the Union: Insights from RAND

To shed light on a wide range of topics that figured in President Trump's second State of the Union address, we've rounded up insights from some of RAND's objective and nonpartisan research, analysis, and expertise.

Triaging Climate Change

There are many opportunities to manage climate risk around the world, but not everything can be saved. Delaying triage of climate damages could leave societies making ad hoc decisions instead of focusing on protecting the things they value most.

Benjamin Lee Preston @bl_preston, Johanna Nalau

Does the United States Face an AI Ethics Gap?

Instead of worrying about an artificial intelligence “ethics gap,” U.S. policymakers and the military community could embrace a leadership role in AI ethics. This may help ensure that the AI arms race doesn't become a race to the bottom.

Benjamin Boudreaux

Data Breaches Could Cause Users to Opt Out of Sharing Personal Data. Then What?

As tech-based systems have become all but indispensable, many institutions might assume user data will be reliable, meaningful and, most of all, plentiful. But what if this data became unreliable, meaningless, or even scarce?

Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung

Can Innovative Financing by the Public and Private Sectors Build on Momentum in Energy Efficiency Improvements for Affordable Multifamily Housing?

Nearly one in three American households in 2015 reported difficulty paying their energy bills or sustaining adequate home heating and cooling. Emerging models of energy services and financing show promise, and could identify creative ways to increase access to funding that could preserve and improve home affordability for millions of Americans.

Lisa Jonsson, Aimee E. Curtright @ACurtright

Overlapping Environmental Disasters Put a Strain on Gulf Communities

For Gulf Coast residents, dealing with the impact of the Deepwater Horizon disaster is challenging enough. With the Taylor Energy spill, they may face an even more daunting recovery, one that could take decades. Acknowledging the extent and complexity of recovery is the first step toward supporting coastal communities to build their resilience in the face of overlapping disasters.

Melissa L. Finucane @MelissaFinucane