Purpose
The Foresight & Analytics Unit is a new unit within the Virginia Department of Health, Office of Emergency Preparedness. This document lays out a program for establishing the unit and its role within Virginia’s emergency preparedness and management system.
Vision
To increase and improve foresight and analysis capacity in the commonwealth, and to be a trusted resource for foresight and analysis in the commonwealth.
Strategic Goal
To minimize the timespan between public health threat emergence and effective decision-making by stakeholders and the public.
Programmatic Priorities
Priority I: Building an Anticipatory Agency
The Foresight & Analytics Unit is a new unit. Its activities are complex and not well understood. Outreach and education are essential to ensure partners are aware of the unit and to educate leadership, staff, and stakeholders about foresight concepts, tools, and uses. The F&A unit will also work to embed foresight practices in the public health workforce.
Priority II: Informatics Planning for Emerging Public Health Threats
The monkeypox outbreak has demonstrated a continued need for analytics and information stream preparedness during emerging public health threats. Plans for analytics and information, including structure, permissions, tools, and products, are necessary. The F&A unit will work with partners to develop plans for emerging public health threats.
Priority III: Early Warning System Coordination
VDH Strategic Plan Goal 3 & Goal 4
There was a wide array of information available during COVID-19, and new sources (wastewater, genomic surveillance) continue to come online. Without integration and analysis these resources become more noise than signal. The F&A unit will work with partners to create a timely and signal-rich information environment during public health emergencies.
Priority IV: Respond to Emerging Public Health Threats
Coordinate foresight & analytics for emerging public health threats, support data analysis and visualization during the early parts of an emerging threat, and share the results with internal and external stakeholders, and the public. Facilitate data sharing with external partners.
Priority V: Strategic Planning Support
Modeling can provide important insights for policy analysis, planning, and program design. The F&A unit will connect modeling and forecasting tools to policy-makers and program staff, and bring a futures thinking perspective to strategic planning.