Using Emerging Science and Technologies to Address Persistent and Future Environmental Challenges - Science For Environmental Protection: The Road Ahead - page 67

ceding sections of this chapter will require EPA to have state-of-the-art IT and
informatics resources that can be used to manage, analyze, and model diverse
datasets obtained from the vast array of technologies.
Computer Science, Informatics, and Information Technology
The future needs for IT and informatics in support of science in EPA are
subject to two principal influences: the future directions of EPA's mission and
the underlying science in future directions taken by the IT industry. Science in
EPA will increasingly depend on its capability in IT and informatics. IT is con-
cerned with the acquisition, processing, storage, and dissemination of informa-
tion with a combination of computing and telecommunication (Longley and
Shain 1985). The term informatics , as used here, refers to the application of IT
in the generation, repository, retrieval, processing, integration, analysis, and
interpretation of data obtained in different media and across geographic and dis-
ciplinary boundaries that are related to the environment and ecosystem, commu-
nity and human activities, and human health (see He 2003). Informatics is also
concerned with the computational, cognitive, and social aspects of IT. One way
in which IT can be used for data acquisition is through public engagement. Tak-
ing advantage of expertise outside of EPA (from academia, industry, and other
agencies) and considering the general public as a source of new information is a
way in which knowledge and resources can be combined in a cost-effective
manner. Examples include taking advantage of social media and crowdsourcing.
Appendix D provides additional background information on various important
and rapidly changing tools and technologies in the field of information technol-
ogy and informatics.
Example of Using Emerging Science to Address Regulatory Issues
and Support Decision-Making: Social Media
EPA does substantial outreach to the public and to other agencies and re-
search communities via such media as blogs and wikis. It also supports mobile,
desktop, and laptop collaboration and it clearly sees the role of social media for
these outward-facing purposes. The general IT activities are the responsibility of
several entities in the Office of Environmental Information and elsewhere in the
agency, such as the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (EPA
2012c) and the Office of Water (EPA 2012d). Social media also have a role to
play in crowdsourcing and citizen science, as will be discussed in the following
section. Another important topic in the near future will be the use of social me-
dia for scientific collaboration. The emergence of secure enterprise social net-
works provides a host of opportunities for greatly enhanced internal and external
collaboration, particularly as tighter budgetary circumstances force the dissolu-
tion of some departmental and interagency boundaries.