Publicly funded data-driven innovation programmes frequently involve partnerships between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and municipal authorities utilizing citizen data. The intention of these projects is to benefit citizens. However, few such projects achieve success or impact within the project timeframe. This may result in benefit accruing mainly to the SME partner, who gains both learning and data, engendering questions of data justice around whether citizen data are being exploited without sufficient benefit returning to citizens. Through case studies composed of interviews and document analysis, we examine how benefits for citizens are conceived and achieved in the publicly funded data-driven air quality projects Data Pitch and Smart Cities Innovation Framework Implementation. We find the differences between the programme funders’ policies had a clear influence on the citizen engagement elements. There are also a number of ways in which the desired citizen engagement and benefit becomes diluted, including through misalignment of incentives and focus, a lack of prioritization and ownership, and power imbalances between citizens and the other actors in the quadruple helix model. To retain the focus on ensuring citizens benefit from data-driven innovation programmes using citizen data, we propose the use of data Justice plans. More work is required to specify the content and mechanisms of such plans for application in such programmes.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and other genome editing technologies have the potential to transform the lives of people affected by genetic disorders for the better. However, it is widely recognised that they also raise large ethical and policy questions. The focus of this article is on how national genome editing policy might be developed in ways that give proper recognition to these big questions. The article first considers some of the regulatory challenges involved in dealing these big ethical and social questions, and also economic issues. It then reviews the outcomes of a series of major reports on genome editing from international expert bodies, with a particular focus on the work of the World Health Organization’s expert committee on genome editing. The article then summarises five policy themes that have emerged from this review of the international reports together with a review of other literature, and the authors’ engagement with members of the Australian public and with a wide range of experts across multiple disciplines. Each theme is accompanied by one to three pointers for policymakers to consider in developing genome editing policy.

In 2017, Cuba was pummeled by Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest and most devastating Atlantic basin hurricanes in history. Twelve of Cuba’s 15 provinces and 90 percent of the population were affected, and there was island-wide loss of electrical power. Despite the significant damage, ongoing economic hardships, and the political realities that required Cuba to handle the situation without response support from other nations, Cuba’s recovery was swift and effective. Cuba’s disaster self-sufficiency and timely response to Hurricane Irma was grounded on 5 decades of disaster planning coupled with ongoing evolution of disaster risk reduction and management strategies. While the central command center, with local dispatch response teams, and mandated citizen engagement are features unique to Cuba’s political structure, in this study, we highlight 5 defining attributes of Cuba’s hurricane response that can constructively inform the actions of other island and coastal nations vulnerable to Atlantic tropical cyclones. These attributes are: (1) actively learning and incorporating lessons from past disaster events, (2) integrating healthcare and public health professionals on the frontlines of disaster response, (3) proactively engaging the public in disaster preparedness, (4) incorporating technology into disaster risk reduction, and (5) infusing science into risk planning. In terms of hurricane response, as a geopolitically isolated nation, Cuba has experienced particular urgency when it comes to protecting the population and creating resilient infrastructure that can be rapidly reactivated after the onslaught of storms of ever-increasing intensity. This includes planning for worsening future disaster scenarios based on a clear-eyed appreciation of the realities of climate change.

In 2002, the World Health Organization emphasised the concept of active ageing to manage and increase the last third of life. Although many efforts have been made to optimise treatment management, less attention has been paid to health promotion initiatives. To date, few shared guidelines exist that promote an active life in healthy older targets. To fill this gap, we conducted a systematic review to map health promotion interventions that targeted an active and healthy ageing among older citizens. Articles containing the key term active ageing and seven synonyms were searched for in the electronic databases. Because we were interested in actions aimed to promote healthier lifestyles, we connected the string with the term health. A total of 3,918 titles were retrieved and 20 articles were extracted. Twelve of the 20 studies used group interventions, five interventions targeted the individual level and three interventions targeted the community level. Interventions differed for the health focus of the programmes, which ranged from physical activity interventions to social participation or cognitive functioning. Most of the studies aimed to act on psychological components. The review suggests that different interventions promoted for active ageing are effective in improving specific healthy and active lifestyles; however, no studies were concerned directly with a holistic process of citizen health engagement to improve long-term outcomes.