In an effort to anticipate and mitigate the national security risks associated with climate change, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has awarded Arizona State University a grant of $20 million. This five-year partnership known as the Foresight Initiative will examine how climate change affects resources and contributes to political unrest, as well as articulate sustainability and resilience strategies.

Leveraging computing and system modeling initiatives at ASU and with partner organizations, the Foresight Initiative will apply cloud technologies, advances in natural user interfaces and machine learning in order to address challenges driven by the volume and character of future persistent data flows. The resulting capabilities will not only allow analysts and decision-makers to interact with diverse data sets in a simulation environment, they will help them assess the effectiveness of plans, policies and decisions, as well. ASU departments that will be integral to this work include the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Public Programs, Decision Theater Network and Decision Center for a Desert City.