Passing this along for our friends at EPA Office of Environmental Information. I must say, as someone who has been interested in the interface between information technology and environmental decision making for a LONG time, the current atmosphere in OEI seems more receptive to change and to new ideas than at any time in the past 20 years.
Might as well strike while the iron is hot.
Regards,
Scott Butner
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What is the National Dialogue?
The National Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information (www.epa.gov/nationaldialogue) is the Environmental Protection Agency's approach to examining how we can better meet our customers’ needs for environmental information. The goal is to assist EPA in enhancing access to its own environmental information, as well as for making EPA information more valuable and useful to EPA’s information customers whether used alone or in combination with information from other sources of interest.
Environmental information is a key strategic resource for accomplishing EPA’s environmental mission – protecting human health and the environment. Easy access to high quality environmental information is critical for supporting sound decisions by EPA and its many environmental customers and partners in federal, state and local governments, business, communities, academia and the news media.
People want environmental information to help them make environmental decisions – whether it’s about energy savings, climate change, drinking water quality, the effects from natural disasters, or whether exposures to chemicals are being linked to diseases. Today’s generation expects to locate this information in seconds, not in days, or hours, or minutes.
The World Wide Web continues to grow exponentially as both a resource for information and social networking for people with common interests. As more and more information is made available on the Internet, information organization and search becomes a bigger challenge. How do we ensure that we are getting the right data and information to the right people at the right time?
So, with these three things coming together – providing access to information to our customers and partners, the increasing demand for environmental information; and the exploding resources on the Internet - it means that EPA must find ways to organize our vast information resources for better access and sharing, and leverage technologies to support these activities. This means treating environmental information as a strategic asset. The National Dialogue will help us to build that strategy.
Who Can Participate in the Dialogue?
All interested individuals and communities are welcome to participate. We are specifically seeking to engage the following:
National Dialogue Web Site – www.epa.gov/nationaldialogue
What Is Our Approach?
We need the help of our external and internal customers to conduct an effective Dialogue. The Dialogue will offer a variety of forums for input, including online and in person forums, stakeholder sessions, and special events. At those different events and on the National Dialogue Web site, we will engage our information customers directly to identify actions EPA should take to improve information access.
The Web site (www.epa.gov/nationaldialogue) has an area for comments. As the National Dialogue progresses, the site will include more interactive features to facilitate greater participation.
After we hear from external and internal participants about information needs, we will develop a multi-year strategy detailing the steps EPA could take to ensure greater access to environmental information. We will identify and implement changes while we are developing the strategy. Other changes will be implemented over the next several years.
What Is Our Timeline?
The National Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information is scheduled throughout this year and will be completed in October 2008. Throughout this period, we will be getting feedback from our participants, hosting events, and compiling our findings. Below are key milestones of the National Dialogue.
Molly A. O'Neill, EPA's Chief Information Officer announced the National Dialogue at the National Environmental Information Symposium in St. Louis in November 2007.
EPA launched the National Dialogue Web site so interested members of the public can provide their thoughts, experiences, and expectations on important information topics.
The National Dialogue will offer a variety of forums for public input, including a few special events that participants may wish to attend in person. EPA will post other events on the National Dialogue Web site several weeks in advance of their scheduled dates throughout 2008.
EPA will compile what we are learning into a strategy document during the summer. We expect that it will be available to review in the late summer so we can have an initial product by October 2008.
For More Information
To learn more about the National Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information and to participate, visit the National Dialogue Web Site. For additional questions, e-mail us at NationalDialogue@epa.gov.
National Dialogue Web Site – www.epa.gov/nationaldialogue
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Scott Butner
Senior Research Scientist, Knowledge Systems Group
Pacific NW National Laboratory
MS K7-28
3350 Q Ave
Richland, WA 99354
Voice: (509)-372-4946/Fax: (509) 375-2443
E-mail: scott.butner@pnl.gov
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