Page 94 Cite

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26905.

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B

Workshop Agenda

Optimizing Investments for Urban Sustainability Infrastructure
July 13, 20, and 27, 2022

Agenda
July 13, 2022
11:00–5:00 ET

11:00 am	Introduction and Welcome Deputy Mayor Jeanne Holm, City of Los Angeles, Committee Chair
11:10 am	Keynote Address Mayor Eric Garcetti, City of Los Angeles¹
11:25 am	Challenges and Concerns of the Mayoral Office In this session (presented by Deputy Mayor Jeanne Holm), we hear the perspectives of mayors around the globe as they grapple with the following questions:

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¹ Mayor Garcetti was unable to attend the workshop.

Page 95 Cite

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26905.

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	How are you using data, analytics, and quantitative tools to measure and solve complex problems? What are the most useful metrics that help you make decisions surrounding infrastructure and sustainability? What are some of your “dream” metrics? If you could get quantitative information about anything, what would it be? What does sustainability mean to you, and how do you measure it? What skills would you want new employees to have in order to better support your city in the future? What are the greatest barriers to gathering and analyzing the data your city needs and using quantitative decision support tools to make investment decisions? How is your office preparing for rising material costs and interest rates in funding for infrastructure investments?
11:45 am	Local Infrastructure Decision Making: Goals, Ground Rules, and Criteria Moderator: Leah Brooks, The George Washington University
	Speakers: Kirk Steudle, Econolite and Former Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation Jordan Fischbach, The Water Institute of the Gulf
	Two speakers introduce the constraints and challenges of decision making for local infrastructure. Steudle will highlight the challenges of choosing among projects once the funding is in hand, and Fischbach will discuss decision making under uncertainty, with a focus on water applications.

Page 96 Cite

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26905.

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SESSION 1: Relevant Data, Analytics, and Metrics for Infrastructure and Sustainability

12:15–2:30 pm

This session addresses the data and tools communities need to address sustainability and infrastructure decisions, as well as the metrics and measures that capture the state of the various systems that support local infrastructure.

12:15 pm	Keynote Address Loren Hopkins, City of Houston Health Department
12:30 pm	Relevant Community Data
	Speakers: Brittany Sellers, City of Orlando Kyle Buck, Environmental Protection Agency Joseph Salvo, University of Virginia
	Guiding Questions: What data are relevant to sustainability? What data are relevant for understanding the current infrastructure? Who decides what data are relevant? How do you connect the data to the quality of services provided?
1:00 pm	Q&A Moderator: Katherine Bennett Ensor, Rice University
1:15 pm	Metrics and Measures of Performance
	Speakers: Bill Robert, Spy Pond Partners Anita Chandra, RAND Corporation
	Guiding Questions: When you look at performance, what are you measuring? How do you measure infrastructure performance? How do you use data to do post-mortem assessments of previous investments?

Page 97 Cite

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26905.

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	What parameters are important and what are we trying to optimize? How do these values support decision making?
1:45 pm	Joint Q&A Moderator: Sarah Slaughter, Built Environment Coalition
2:30 pm	BREAK

SESSION 2: Funding and Investment Mechanisms for Infrastructure

3:00–5:00 pm

This session begins with a conversation on public investment theory and cost-benefit analysis for infrastructure and public works investment. A second panel of practitioners and policy makers will discuss practical challenges such as “the color of money” and matching the right funding to the right project. Speakers from both panels will engage in a joint conversation about theory versus practice.

3:00 pm	Investment Decisions
	Speakers: Destenie Nock, Carnegie Mellon University Joseph Cordes, The George Washington University Richard Ciccarone, Merritt Research Services
3:40 pm	Funding and Investment in Practice
	Speakers: Will Pickering, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority Mayor Samuel Parham, City of Petersburg, Virginia Jennifer Sanders, Dallas Innovation Alliance
4:20 pm	Theory Versus Practice: A Conversation Moderator: Monica Sanders, The Undivide Project and Georgetown University
5:00 pm	ADJOURN

Page 98 Cite

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26905.

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Agenda
July 20, 2022
11:00–4:45 ET

SESSION 3: Decision Making for Infrastructure Investments

11:00 am–2:15 pm

This session explores the state-of-the-art tools and practices available for optimizing and improving the infrastructure investment process, as well as the challenges practitioners face when bridging the gap between theory and implementation. A series of keynotes frame the broader issues surrounding decision making for infrastructure investment, and then a speaker will present an overview of the mathematical methods that can support quantitative problem solving. A panel of experienced experts will discuss the challenges and opportunities in multi-objective decision making, followed by a group of speakers who address the practical barriers and processes for bringing optimal decisions to fruition.

11:00 am	Keynote Address #1 Costa Samaras, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
11:20 am	Keynote Address #2 Richard de Neufville, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
11:40 am	Keynote Address #3 Safiya U. Noble, author of Algorithms of Oppression and at the University of California, Los Angeles
12:00 pm	Overview: Optimization in Problem-Solving David Shmoys, Cornell University
12:20 pm	BREAK
12:35 pm	Multi-Objective Decision Making Moderator: Robert J. Lempert, RAND Corporation
	Speakers: Elise Miller-Hooks, George Mason University Patrick Reed, Cornell University David Banks, Duke University Victor M. Zavala, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Page 99 Cite

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26905.

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	Guiding Questions: What does it mean to optimize infrastructure investments? Or what is an optimal investment? How do decision makers use mathematical tools? How does optimization fit with the larger political or community agenda?
1:25 pm	Bridging the Gap Between Optimization and Action Moderator: Sue McNeil, University of Delaware
	Speakers: Lauren Davis, North Carolina A&T State University Cris B. Liban, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Marie Lynn Miranda, University of Notre Dame
	Guiding Questions: What is the gap between optimization and action? How do we build decision makers’ and community awareness of the value of mathematical models? What strategies are effective to overcome decision makers’ fear of “black-box” decision making? What are the challenges in integrating infrastructure investments with other community priorities? What additional things beyond “optimality” do decision makers need to consider?
2:15 pm	BREAK

Mini-Session 1: Building Confidence in Data and Institutions

2:45–4:45 pm

In this session, speakers and panelists will highlight institutional challenges to gathering trusted data such as community skepticism, privacy concerns, and evaluating data for inclusion and comprehensive representation.

Page 100 Cite

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26905.

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2:45 pm	Building Confidence in Data and Institutions Moderator: Jeanne Holm, City of Los Angeles
	Speakers: Rishee K. Jain, Stanford University Richard Y. Wang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Karen Abrams, City of Pittsburgh Michael Cremin, Minnesota Department of Transportation Asset Management Program Office
	Guiding Questions: How do we know we have the right data? How do we know if our data are sufficiently accurate? What communication strategies are effective to build decision makers’ and community members’ confidence in the data that supports decision making? Community engagement is one approach to building confidence in institutions. What does it take to have effective community engagement? Are there other effective strategies? How should organizations and governments balance the need for data with constituents’ rights to privacy?
4:15 pm	Keynote Address Shelby Switzer, Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown University and U.S. Digital Service at the White House
4:45 pm	ADJOURN

Agenda
July 27, 2022
11:00–3:30 ET

Mini-Session 2: Digital and Physical Infrastructure for Public Safety

11:00 am–12:00 pm ET

Digital, physical, and social infrastructure can have a significant impact on crime, violence, and public safety. Following a keynote and conversations on active research on public safety and infrastructure and

Page 101 Cite

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26905.

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public services, researchers and practitioners discuss opportunities for improved community safety.

11:00 am	Research to Improve Public Safety Through Digital and Physical Infrastructure
	Speakers: Chris Blattman, University of Chicago John MacDonald, University of Pennsylvania Renata Konrad, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
11:30 am	A Joint Conversation Moderator: John Birge, University of Chicago

Mini-Session 3: Moving Beyond Short-Termism

12:00–1:00 pm

Decision makers must balance urgent needs with long-term goals for sustainability. Speakers break down the risks of short-term thinking and identify practical tips for investing and planning for the future.

12:00 pm	Moving Beyond Short-Termism
	Speakers: Kimberly Walker LaGrue, City of New Orleans Alex Pudlin, Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University
2:30 pm	Joint Q&A and Conversation Moderator: Samuel Labi, Purdue University
1:00 pm	BREAK

SESSION 4: Building the Ideal Sustainable City

1:15–2:45 pm ET

What is sustainability? Researchers and practitioners around the country describe what sustainability means in their field, as well as ways in which their local communities strive for sustainability. This session closes with a panel in which keynote speakers talk more broadly about the idea of sustainability and where we go from here.

Page 102 Cite

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Agenda." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Enhancing Urban Sustainability Infrastructure: Mathematical Approaches for Optimizing Investments: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26905.

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1:15 pm	Introductions Moderator: Barbara Brown Wilson, University of Virginia
1:20 pm	Keynote Address Brian Beach, Vanderbilt University
1:40 pm	Keynote Address Alice C. Hill, Council on Foreign Relations
2:00 pm	Keynote Address Lucia Athens, City of Austin
2:20 pm	Joint Panel: Sustainability and How to Get There Moderator: Barbara Brown Wilson, University of Virginia

Closing Discussions

2:50–3:30 pm ET

2:50 pm	Workshop Highlights and Audience Feedback Jared L. Cohon, Carnegie Mellon University
3:15 pm	Closing Remarks Jeanne Holm, City of Los Angeles
3:30 pm	ADJOURN