Building on its early successes in cross-sector engagement, RESILE is positioned to serve as a national model for how universities can couple applied partnerships with open data and modeling platforms. To advance this vision, RESILE proposes ResileLab, an open-access digital platform designed to unify fragmented climate, infrastructure, financial, and socioeconomic data and provide a shared foundation for interdisciplinary collaboration. More than a repository, it is a sandbox for applied problem-solving, providing resources and tools for researchers, students, public agencies, nonprofits, and businesses to test strategies, explore scenarios, and generate decision-ready insights. By lowering barriers to access and supporting transparent, reproducible research, ResileLab will democratize climate data analysis and foster innovations that extend well beyond Duke. Artificial intelligence will play a central role in this effort, accelerating workflows and making advanced methods more accessible to small businesses and under-resourced communities. In doing so, ResileLab both broadens access and aligns with Duke’s strategic investment in AI.
ResileLab highlights resilience valuation as a priority opportunity, designing tools that link hazard science to financial, economic, and societal outcomes while remaining flexible for a wide range of application. Distinct from data archiving initiatives, ResileLab focuses on the “last mile,” transforming data into transparent, decision-ready insights through reproducible workflows, visualization, and modeling. Examples of near-term applications include:
- Informing insurance innovation and affordability strategies,
- Assessing resilience benefits for municipal and infrastructure finance,
- Supporting community adaptation planning with cost–benefit assessment, and
- Advancing equity-informed metrics that capture the societal value of resilience investments.
ResileLab’s approach ensures that climate data not only inform science but also underpin investments, policies, and community choices. Initial proof-of-concept will come through three pilot projects now in development in North Carolina and beyond, highlighting the platform’s value across hazards and contexts.
