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Interactive open source information systems
for fostering transboundary water cooperation
J. Ganoulis, Coordinator and Ch. Skoulikaris, Secretary, United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization Chair/International Network of Water-Environment Centres for the Balkans
T
he world is undergoing a historic transformation with the
explosion of new information and communication tech-
nologies (ICTs) which have drastically changed methods
of international cooperation through the development of intra-
and inter-electronic networks. The use of new web-based
technologies for regional networking and distance cooperation
presents an opportunity to face challenges in a new way.
The case of internationally shared water resources management and
governance is of particular interest, because it combines physical, techni-
cal, environmental, economical and political issues on regional, national,
international and multicultural scales, and because it requires a multi-
disciplinary approach at every level. The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair/International
Network of Water-Environment Centres for the Balkans (INWEB)
has developed and maintains on its website different geo-referenced
open-source cooperative information systems, with the principal aim of
facilitating cooperation and exchange of experience between scientists
and stakeholders working in different socioeconomic environments, on
the management and governance of transboundary water resources.
1
Open source cooperative information systems
The world is witnessing a revolution in the way information is shared and
how communication takes place. With the recent exponential progress
of science and technology and the global communications
revolution spearheaded by the Internet, innovations in
organization, operational methods and communication
have been adopted by the vast majority of economic activi-
ties. Newmaterials, products and software all appear on the
market so fast that it has become difficult to keep up to date.
In the late 1970s, when software became independent
from the hardware that had been used to create the first
IBM computers in the early 1950s, different groups initi-
ated the ‘open source’ softwaremovement. In the 1990s, the
well-knownUnix and Linux open source operating systems
clearly differentiated open source licenses from commercial
ones. Open source software makes the source code avail-
able for anybody to use or modify and it is very suitable for
promoting cooperation, learning and understanding. With
open source software such as OpenOffice, users are granted
not only the right of functionality, as in the use of Microsoft
Office, but can also own and modify the methodology.
Examples of popular open source software products include
Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, Google Chrome, Android
and the Apache Open Office Suite. Google is one of the
biggest companies supporting the open source movement
and has developed more than 500 open source projects.
In the international environment, cooperation among
scientific communities and countries is vital for the protec-
tion and management of shared water resource systems
that cross national boundaries, to safeguard against pollu-
tion and floods, and to plan major infrastructure works for
the development of internationally shared water basins.
Successful regional cooperation requires that all partici-
pants understand the importance of sharing information
and knowledge at the appropriate time.
Information systems for water cooperation
The UNESCO Chair/INWEB is an international
network of experts that aims to facilitate the exchange
of information in the field of transboundary water;
develop and maintain online inventories, information
systems and databases; promote training and profes-
sional education possibly by using new media and
distance learning; and contribute to public education
and sensitization in the field of water-environment.
One of INWEB’s early activities was to develop inven-
tories of transboundary surface waters in South-Eastern
Europe (SEE). Transboundary river and lake basins
T
ransboundary
W
ater
M
anagement
An inventory of transboundary non-Danubian surface waters in SEE
Source: UNESCO Chair/INWEB