The creation and Development of shared water information systems take centre stage at the 4th WWF of Mexico

The FT5-13 session of the 4th World Water Forum allowed to underline the advantages of shared water information systems for risk and sustainable resources management. Several case studies on national and regional water information systems were presented: SINA/SIRAs, WIS, EMWIS, WISE, KOCRIS, IRBIS, etc. A set of recommendations, which aim at facilitating the implementation of these systems, came out of the discussions. The participants agreed on the necessity of raising awareness of the political and technical people in charge, and defining an overall strategy for the organization and implementation of the information system. The participants also recommended to establish processes which aim at: Organizing and facilitating the partner network, Inventorying the existing data and information sources, Defining and adopting a common semantic language, Defining an overall technical architecture, and organizing the production and dissemination of knowledge necessary for decision-making and good public information and participation. See the page on this session at EMWIS website.