Position paper: Environmental decision support systems (EDSS) development - Challenges and best practices

  • Authors:

  • B. S. McIntosh;J. C. Ascough, II;M. Twery;J. Chew;A. Elmahdi;D. Haase;J. J. Harou;D. Hepting;S. Cuddy;A. J. Jakeman;S. Chen;A. Kassahun;S. Lautenbach;K. Matthews;W. Merritt;N. W. T. Quinn;I. Rodriguez-Roda;S. Sieber;M. Stavenga;A. Sulis;J. Ticehurst;M. Volk;M. Wrobel;H. van Delden;S. El-Sawah;A. Rizzoli;A. Voinov

  • Affiliations:

  • International Water Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and Smart Water Research Centre, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia;USDA-ARS, Agricultural Systems Research Unit, Fort Collins, CO, USA;USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 705 Spear Street, South Burlington, USA;USDA-FS, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Forestry Sciences Lab, Missoula, MT, USA;Urban Water Balance Unit, Climate and Water Division, Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Australia;UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Leipzig, Germany;Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (CEGE), University College, London, United Kingdom;Department of Computer Science, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada;Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre, National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia;Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre, National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia;Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre, National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia;Decision and Information Sciences, Wageningen UR, Wageningen, The Netherlands;UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Leipzig, Germany;Integrated Land Use Systems Group, Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, United Kingdom;Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre, National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia;HydroEcological Engineering Advanced Decision Support Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA;Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universitat de Girona, Spain and Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain;Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany;Maralte B.V., Crown Business Center, Leiden, The Netherlands;Department of Land Engineering, Piazza d'Armi, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy;Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre, National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia;UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Leipzig, Germany;Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany;RIKS bv., Maastricht, The Netherlands;Integrated Catchment Assessment and Management Centre, National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia;Istituto Dalle Molle di Studi sull'Intelligenza Artificiale (IDSIA), Switzerland;Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, The Netherlands

  • Venue:
  • Environmental Modelling & Software
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

Despite the perceived value of DSS in informing environmental and natural resource management, DSS tools often fail to be adopted by intended end users. By drawing together the experience of a global group of EDSS developers, we have identified and assessed key challenges in EDSS development and offer recommendations to resolve them. Challenges related to engaging end users in EDSS development emphasise the need for a participatory process that embraces end users and stakeholders throughout the design and development process. Adoption challenges concerned with individual and organisational capacities to use EDSS and the match between EDSS and organisational goals can be overcome through the use of an internal champion to promote the EDSS at different levels of a target organisation; co-ordinate and build capacity within the organisation, and; ensure that developers maintain focus on developing EDSS which are relatively easy and inexpensive to use and update (and which are perceived as such by the target users). Significant challenges exist in relation to ensuring EDSS longevity and financial sustainability. Such business challenges may be met through planning and design that considers the long-term costs of training, support, and maintenance; revenue generation and licensing by instituting processes which support communication and interactions; and by employing software technology which enables easy model expansion and re use to gain an economy of scale and reduce development costs. A final group of perhaps more problematic challenges relate to how the success of EDSS ought to be evaluated. Whilst success can be framed relatively easily in terms of interactions with end users, difficulties of definition and measurability emerge in relation to the extent to which EDSS achieve intended outcomes. To tackle the challenges described, the authors provide a set of best practice recommendations concerned with promoting design for ease of use, design for usefulness, establishing trust and credibility, promoting EDSS acceptance, and starting simple and small in functionality terms. Following these recommendations should enhance the achievement of successful EDSS adoption, but more importantly, help facilitate the achievement of desirable social and environmental outcomes.