Applications of Data-Driven Policymaking in the Local Energy Transition: A Multiple-case Study in the Netherlands

The potential of the use of data to help improve policymaking is increasingly recognized by governments, especially to address societal challenges. One of those societal challenges is the energy transition, which happens for a large part at the local government level. However, within the literature little is known about which type of applications are utilized for data-driven policymaking. From government practice a plethora of data-driven applications are mentioned to be under development or in experimental phase, but not much is known on which applications are actually utilized by policymakers. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory study is to gain insight into how these data-driven applications support policymaking for the local energy transition. To investigate this, we perform a multiple-case study of four municipalities in the Netherlands. Using an analytical framework derived from an literature overview of data-driven applications for the local energy transition, we carry out four case studies of the local energy transition in the Netherlands. We find that they use data-driven applications throughout the whole policy cycle. However, a significant gap exists between data-driven applications to enable and accelerate the energy transition currently implemented, and the desired applications, but also the potential applications found in literature. We recommend future research pertaining to integrated and actionable adoption strategies in order to bridge this gap.