Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
encourages equity and shared governance, advanc-
ing transparency between different stakeholder
groups when addressing potential conflicts.
Internet-based tools provide opportunities for
shared learning experiences between stakeholder
groups, where modelling results based on differ-
ent proposed alternatives can be quickly viewed
by participants. In the near future most formal
and informal learning activities will likely be
based on Internet applications (Pickles, 1995;
Bruckman, 2002; Aggett & McColl, 2006).
administers the database, how often the database
is updated, and who pays for infrastructure.
Component-based frameworks have been adopted
such as Microsoft's .NET, but lack the inclusion
of all programming languages and all operating
systems. A standardized protocol that is program-
ming language and platform independent should
be utilized when developing integrated decision
support systems.
Years of research and development have been
spent on developing simulation models that
encapsulate our understanding of environmental
and erosion processes. These applications repre-
sent the current state of knowledge and should
be leveraged in the decision-making process.
However, these models are often developed using
technologies which make interaction with today's
object-oriented, web-based technologies cumber-
some. Since different programming languages are
developed for different purposes, languages that
are computationally efficient are often not com-
patible with languages that have extensive librar-
ies for Internet development, and no single
language is ideal for all applications. Therefore,
an integrated DSS must be capable of incorporat-
ing legacy applications that are built with tech-
nology that natively does not communicate with
Internet-capable programming languages.
While deploying applications via the Internet
drastically increases availability to users, there
are still 37% of adult Americans without home
broadband access (Horrigan, 2009). Moreover,
Internet access is unequally distributed across
the US, with only 54% of adult Americans in
rural areas having broadband. Low-income
Americans also have limited broadband access,
with 65% of the households with annual incomes
less then $20,000 having no access (Horrigan,
2009). Therefore, rural and low-income Americans
are forced to find other alternatives, such as pub-
lic libraries, to get access to Internet applications.
However, the digital divide between the 'haves'
and the 'have nots' is narrowing, with a 9%
increase in home broadband access between May
2008 and April 2009 (Horrigan, 2009). Importantly,
most businesses and government offices have
broadband Internet access today, and in the US
17.4
Issues Related to Internet-based
Applications
As applications are developed, integrating mod-
els, GIS, decision support systems and the
Internet, new issues are introduced that should
be recognized. These problems range from incom-
patibilities of technologies used for integrating
disparate applications, to security in Internet
environments, and are discussed in more detail
below.
Since natural resource decision-making
requires a coordinated effort between stakehold-
ers representing different groups and levels of
government, integrated decision support systems
should facilitate interaction and communication
among agencies' information systems to make
the decision-making process more efficient
(Miller et al ., 2004). However, different compet-
ing application programming platforms (i.e. .NET,
Java, C++, FORTRAN, PHP, etc.), operating sys-
tems (i.e. Windows, Unix, Linux, etc.), database
management systems (i.e. ESRI ArcGIS Server,
Oracle, MSSQL Server, MySQL, etc.) make com-
munication difficult or impossible. Standardizing
programming languages, operating systems and
database management systems for soil conserva-
tion stakeholders is impractical since different
groups have different budgets, legacy systems,
and requirements of their IT infrastructure.
Creating a centralized database repository con-
taining environmental data for decision-making
is a possibility, but leads to logistical issues such
as what data are contained in the database, who
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