The Conversion of Data Into Information for Public Participation in Decision Making Processes

Abstract

It is now becoming impossible in many countries to proceed with new constructions and management practices in the water sector of the economy without involving the general public in the associated decision making processes. This trend towards a greater public participation is essentially asocio-technicaldevelopment that is itself dependent upon, and indeed inseparable from, sequences of technical innovations, as exemplified by the Internet and second and third generation telephony. It is a consequence of this situation that field data and model results, that were previously employed only by engineers and scientists, and employed for the most part technically, have now to be processed into forms which can be assimilated by the general population and employed politically, legally and altogether less technocratically. This process begins with the transformation of data into information, frequently through the intercession of modeling activities. The management of this activity falls within the purview ofInformation Management.The process may be taken further through the transformation of information into knowledge. This activity then falls, at least in principle, under the aegis ofKnowledge Management.Beyond this again, it is essential that knowledge should transform into understanding if public participation is to proceed at all equitably and effectively. Within the sector of water and the aquatic environment, all of the above developments, as enabled by advanced information and communication technologies, fall within the ambit of Hydroinformatics.This kind of development that is occurring in hydroinfbrmatics clearly necessitates a rather complete rethinking of data collection and processing strategies and associated network designs.