"Preparing Governments for Future Shocks: Building Climate Resilience," authored by Chris Mihm, adjunct professor of public administration and international affairs, was published by the IBM Center for The Business of Government.

The report is part of an initiative launched last year by the IBM Center for The Business of Government and the IBM Institute for Business Value, in partnership with the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and a range of other partners, to help government leaders further identify those core capabilities critical to building resilience. 

Mihm spoke with Government Executive about the report. “What we wanted to do and what we found is what does it look like when these traditional management categories—planning, risk management, workforce, using data—when they get scaled into collaborative enterprises, that is they lose their agency-centric approach,” says Mihm.

“And second, [what happens when] they get applied to situations of shocks and, in many cases these shocks are catastrophic. I think that the path going forward is for governments of all levels to continue to identify what are those shocks. Those potential shocks that are out there that can fundamentally alter or undermine their capacity to deliver services and the abilities of their individuals and their communities to respond,” he says.