River Chief Information-Sharing System as a River Information Governance Approach in China

Abstract

Controling river water pollution is one of the complex ecoenvironmental challenges facing China’s development today. The river chief information-sharing system (RCISS) in China is an institutional innovation carried out by the government to promote collaborative water governance in the era of big data. In order to explore the mechanism of the RCISS in China, this paper analyzed this system by establishing a theoretical analysis framework from the perspective of government data governance. Using this framework, this paper discussed the mechanism, institutional context and driving forces of the current river chief information-sharing system. Provincial-level practices of the RCISS were then analyzed in terms of information content, information transmission paths, intelligent platform and practice achievements, and finally the advantages and problems of the RCISS were summarized. The conclusions were drawn as follows: the river chief information-sharing system has huge advantages regarding the coordinated management of rivers, but there are problems regarding the imbalanced sharing of power among subjects and also disputes in terms of information security, fairness, authenticity and legality. This study provides insights into the operation of the RCISS and serves as a reference for other countries seeking a suitable solution to manage water environments.