AI for Climate Adaptation and Disaster Response: Public Sector Pathways to Impact
Artificial intelligence is increasingly being applied to climate challenges, from wildfire detection and flood forecasting to public health surveillance and disaster response. But fully realizing that potential requires grappling with real barriers: under-resourced public agencies, fragmented data infrastructure, procurement and equity gaps, and the distance between what a tool can do and what actually lowers risk for frontline communities with compounded vulnerabilities.
Join us for a panel discussion bringing together leaders from public health, emergency management, and California's technology infrastructure alongside practitioners working on AI tools for climate adaptation and crisis response. The conversation will focus on what responsible, equitable deployment of AI for climate and disaster response could look like in practice, and will foreground actionable lessons for public sector practitioners, AI researchers, and computer scientists who hope to contribute meaningfully to public sector adaptation efforts in California and beyond.
Panelists include:
Amy Tong, CA Racial Equity Commissioner, Former Senior Counselor to Governor Newsom and Secretary of GovOps
Mark Ghilarducci, Former Director, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)
Dr. Karen Smith, Former California State Public Health Officer
Additional panelist from the AI and climate tech sector (to be announced)
Moderated by: Sarah Skenazy, Public Health Lead at Climate Change AI
Registration and arrivals: 1:30-2pm
Panel discussion and Q&A: 2-3pm
Climate Change AI (CCAI) is a nonprofit that empowers a global community of innovators, practitioners, and decision-makers to accelerate responsible climate action through the use of AI, by addressing critical gaps in expertise, education, coordination, and research-to-deployment infrastructure. Since 2019, CCAI has inspired, informed, and connected thousands of stakeholders across the academic, private, and public sectors through networking and knowledge-sharing events, summer schools and other educational programs, international policy reports, and multi-million dollar global grants programs.
SPUR — the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association — is a nonprofit public policy organization bringing people together from across the political spectrum to develop solutions to the big problems cities face. Based in San Francisco, San José, and Oakland, SPUR is recognized as a leading civic planning organization and respected for its independent and holistic approach to urban issues.
By registering for this event, you agree to share your registration information with the organizers of SF Climate Week.
Note: we may document the panel discussion with photo, audio, or video to share with practitioners and researchers who are not able to join live. By registering for the event you are consenting to being photographed/recorded. If you would like to opt-out, please email: [email protected]