‘Sharing is caring’: A socio-technical analysis of the sharing and governing of hydrometeorological impact data in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Abstract

There has been a growing recognition of the need to collect disaster and risk data over the last two decades. Accordingly, better collection and management of disaster data was identified as a priority of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The introduction and implementation of Impact Forecasts and Warnings (IFWs) have further highlighted this need to collect and access hazard, impact, vulnerability, and exposure (HIVE) data. However, challenges have been met with reporting and using disaster data, which have resulted in an identified need to establish principles for data collection, recording, reporting, exchange/sharing, and comparability. This introduces the concept of data governance and management for disaster data, particularly with regards to data custodianship, stewardship, and sharing.

Using Grounded Theory, a series of interviews were conducted with users and creators of HIVE data to develop further understanding around managing and accessing it for severe weather hazards in New Zealand. A socio-technical lens guided the analysis to identify the organisational and technical intervening conditions and action/interaction strategies for accessing and sharing HIVE data in NZ.

Findings indicated that there is a need to establish data governance principles for HIVE data in New Zealand. An additional need was identified for nurturing partnerships to continue building trust between stakeholders for sharing data. Furthermore, integration challenges continue to interfere with the use of various sources of HIVE data for effective risk and impact assessments for IFWs and beyond. Systematic and standardised data collection approaches using GIS-based tools can support integration.