Environmental information systems as a possible solution for strategic development of local and regional communities
m. coman, b. cioruŢa
ABSTRACT. – Environmental Information Systems (EISs) as a possible solution for strategic development of local and regional communities. The present era that we are living can be described as the “Information Age” as a semnificative general abordation for Information Society. No matter what area of science and technology we look at, it is more obvious that ever that we are dealing with an ‘information overflow’ without precedent in the history of humanity. Environment Sciences are no exception to this rule and recent advances in this field would have been unthinkable, unmanageable and unattainable without the support offered by modern information technology, in the sense of Environment Information Systems or Environment Informatics. The aim of the present paper is to introduce and to underline the importance of Environment Information Systems, especially in environmental protection, planning, management and, of course, decision making. This work paper is focused on the creation, management, use and role of Environmental Information Systems; at the same time, the paper explores the typology of EISs and examined the common definitions of them in the light of these major issues: the concepts of data, information and knowledge in EISs, the connection between EISs and EI, the problems and obstacles to the development of EISs and finally, the emerging demand for public access via EISs and EI to environmental information and environmental protection, engineering and research in Information Society.
Keywords: Environmental Information Systems, Information Society, local / regional development strategies.