About Digital Service for the Planet
Redesigning Data, Service Delivery, and Policy for the Planet
The Digital Service for the Planet (DSP) is a collaboration between New America’s Technology and Democracy programs, New America’s New Practice Lab, and the Environmental Policy Innovation Center’s (EPIC) Technology program. This partnership is designed to incubate innovative digital tools, data, policies, and strategies that government can use to improve the delivery of services across our ecosystems, communities, and environmental priorities.
This initiative will also prototype a digital services model focused on improving how agencies can design technical teams, data systems, and tools to meet their complementary, cross-sector data and technology needs. That work will be piloted by a multidisciplinary cohort of DSP Fellows—technologists and former public servants—who will map barriers and opportunities across several priority issues: our drinking water, wetlands, and forests.
Problem
Our environment is rapidly changing, and decision makers across sectors—and at every level of government—lack the data and technology they need to respond and adapt to that change. From clean air and drinking water, to megafires and biodiversity loss, the stakes are high and getting higher for how the nation will tackle those priorities quickly and at scale.
Yet major data, policy, and implementation gaps—across our systems, regions, and governments—are widening, making it harder to analyze, manage, plan, or build around environmental problems. Ongoing disinvestments in environmental programs and government capacity, coupled with cuts to climate, public health, and other vital data assets mean that now’s the time to design new strategies to adapt and thrive.
This Initiative
We’re building a future in which government has the tools it needs to close data and policy gaps, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and steward our ecosystems and communities.
Our Partners
The Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC)
The Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) builds policies and strategies that deliver spectacular improvement in the speed and scale of environmental progress. A nonprofit start-up, EPIC programs focus on clean water, environmental markets, restoration, agriculture, and the use of data and technology to accelerate better stewardship and public health outcomes. EPIC teams are a unique mix of policy experts, technologists, scientists, lawyers, advocates, and researchers who have held diverse roles in government, industry, and nonprofits—ranging from the White House, federal agencies, and tech companies, to leading consulting firms. All share a commitment to innovation and impact.
New America is a think and action tank dedicated to renewing the Promise of America in an age of rapid technological and social change. Its work prioritizes care and family wellbeing, advances technology in the public interest, reimagines global cooperation, builds effective democracy, and ensures affordable and accessible education for all.