A New World for Water Resources Information

A New World for Water Resources Information

Ian W Makin & Herath ManthrithilakeInternational Water Management Institute

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Knowledge is evermore important in the water sector!

• In many countries, there is a huge quantity of water data•But too often data is:•not collated, •not analysed and •not accessible or shared

Knowledge is evermore important in the water sector! • Knowledge is based on information• Information is built from data

Data collection continually evolving

Manual to Automatic

Data analysis continues to evolve!

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ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY• Communication technology allow

data to be transmitted from remote areas cost effectively

• Cloud computing enables data storage, processing and dissemination on remote servers - maintained by a third party with high availability and secure back-up.

• Novel and timely data collection

• Automatic Transmission

• Real-time Processing

• Storage and access easy

• Timely dissemination

Crowd sourcing & Cloud computing

• Water levels monitored continuously 24/7

• Recorded every hour 24/7• Data transmitted every 12 hours every

day (24/365) from SE Punjab, Pakistan to cloud servers.

• Level and computed flows available in SE Punjab – instantly

• Data transmission cost USD5 per month !

Self-powered, on-duty, no-bias, and reliable

Knowledge is evermore important in the water sector!

•Must develop national and local capacities and tools for • data collection, • analysis and • dissemination

• to better inform policy making and to empower user communities and citizens

Multiple Aims and Benefits• Facilitate public participation in decision

making processes• Efficient and timely operations and

maintenance decisions•Check compliance with policies• Enables new applications and analysis

Source: Synthesis and Recommendation, Side Event 5th World Water Forum – Session 6.4.1 http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/workshops/wwf2009/sideEvent.ppt Need to raise awareness of benefits of W

ater Information

Systems as critical for w

ater management and governance

Access can be regulatedCompletely Open

Anyone can access metadata and download files

Public with Approval

Anyone can access metadata but need agree to license or terms of use to download data

Data Restricted

All users can access metadata, but files are only available to approved users

Data Private

Only selected people or organizations can access metadata and files.

Numerous data sharing platforms in use

•World Bank (Spatial Agent etc.)• FAO - Aquastat •Google platforms (Google Earth, etc.)•WRI – Water Data•UN Water Data• IWMI – data portal

IWMI’s Data Sharing platforms• Water Data Portal (WDP)

http://waterdata.iwmi.org • Water Information System for Sri Lanka

(WISSL)http://wissl.iwmi.org

• Water Information System for Data Management of Myanmar (WISDM)

http://myanmar-preview.iwmi.org/• Indus Basin Knowledge Platform (IBKP)

http://www.indusbasin.org

Knowledge is evermore important in the water sector!

Main barriers to making knowledge available include:

• Lack of legal frameworks for reporting/sharing water data

• Lack of resources (human, technical and financial)

• Lack of capacities (reskilling required)

Take away messages•Are formal rules on data sharing for regulation and

enforcement essential or are there incentives for voluntary use of shared information systems?

• How to ensure effective and efficient coordination between the various information systems at the national, regional and global scales that will create synergies and avoid duplications?

Source: Synthesis and Recommendation, Side Event 5th World Water Forum – Session 6.4.1 http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/workshops/wwf2009/sideEvent.ppt

Take away messages

• Need to distinguish data, indicators and knowledge: how to make best use of the data we collect?

• How can agencies secure adequate funding for long-term sustainable monitoring networks, analysis and dissemination?

Source: Synthesis and Recommendation, Side Event 5th World Water Forum – Session 6.4.1 http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/workshops/wwf2009/sideEvent.ppt

A New World for Water Resources Information

Ian W Makin and Herath Manthrithilake

International Water Management Institute

Visit: www.iwmi.org