Project N°6

Environment and Natural Resources Management

- Progress Report, April 1996 -

INTRODUCTION

G7 members have increased their collaboration with nonG7 industrialized and developing members to demonstrate the potential of a fullfledged, global information locator (GIL) service at the Information Society and Development (ISAD) Conference and Exhibition in South Africa. They are using the global information infrastructure and internetworking technologies to help people in the developing and industrialized countries find and use data and information on such key environmental and natural resources issues as climate change and biodiversity which are of concern to all nations. The longterm result will be a virtual library of data and information held in globally distributed electronic sites accessible on emerging electronic networks.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this G7 joint project is to increase the electronic linkage and integration of sources of data and information relevant to the environment and natural resources management (ENRM). A group of experts, representing organizations and institutions from around the world, will build on existing international efforts to create a GIL service definition, to further interconnect catalogs and directories around the world and ensure their accessibility to developed and developing countries, and to facilitate the interchange and utilization of data and information about the Earth for research and other applications. The project will demonstrate the breadth of data and information already existing internationally, and show the mutual public benefits of improved accessibility for all levels of policy makers, researchers, nongovernmental organizations and the general public.

DESCRIPTION

The G7 will expand and test electronic linkage and integration of distributed sources of data and information relevant to the environment and natural resources by exchanging data and information regarding specific issues of concern to developed and developing nations. Two target issues will be linking data and information regarding climate change and biological diversity, issues on which our governments have already agreed to cooperate. Desertification and other global issues may also be considered. The project will utilize the World Wide Web, a GIL service definition and other tools to organize and access data and information regarding climate change and biological diversity on the Internet. By making data and information regarding a pressing global problem more accessible, this project will enhance efforts to protect the environment and preserve natural resources.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

The experts who met in Rome in September 1995 and March 1996 reaffirmed their intention to create a virtual library, not a specific system. The ENRM virtual library would also be accessible using newer technologies on networks and through the wider use of GIL services based on emerging international standards, e.g., ISO 10163: Information Search and Retrieval Application Protocol Specification (Z39.50).

Three topic working groups (TWG's) were established on: (1) Meta Information, with coleads from the European Commission and the European Environment Agency; (2) Climate Change, with coleads still to be determined; and (3) Biological Diversity, with lead from Germany. Comprising information technology experts and scientists involved with these global issues, the TWG's would support the ENRM project's goal not only by recommending tools and techniques for finding and using ENRM data and information, but also by identifying ways for gathering new information and making them available to the public, as well as to the scientific community.

The expert group developed a twoyear plan of action and milestone chart of activities. This plan of action identifies major tasks to evaluate the effectiveness of the mechanisms used in the initial pilot project and their applicability to a wider range on environment and natural resources topics. The expert group has also encouraged those agencies currently exchanging environmental and natural resources data and information under other ongoing cooperative activities such as the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), the Centre for Earth Observation (CEO) and the Global Observation Information Network (GOIN), to make their data and information available for this pilot project.

MILESTONES/CURRENT STATUS

May 1718, 1995 First expert group meeting held in Washington; organized pilot project and drafted plan of action

September 2829, 1995 Second expert group meeting held in Rome; plan of action finalized and approved group, following consultation with appropriate national agencies;

three topic WG's established

March 2728, 1996 Third expert group meeting held in Berlin; nonG7 participation expanded; reviewed demonstrations proposed for ISAD exhibition in South Africa

May 1317, 1996 Participate in ISAD exhibition in South Africa; combined demo with G7 GEMINI subproject

September 2526, 1996 Fourth expert group meeting scheduled in Tokyo; review ISAD exhibition and TWG's activities; consider additional, global target issues

June 1997 Evaluation of effectiveness of mechanisms used in the pilot project

Theme Leader: Larry Enomoto, United States

Phone: 3014575214

Fax: 3017365828

email:

lenomoto@nesdis.noaa.gov