IAI Data and Information System (DIS)
Gustavo V. Necco
Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research
Global environmental change (GEC) is one of the greatest challenges that humanity faces today.
There are many definitions of GEC and we will refer to the one adopted by the IAI :
Changes in the global environment (including alterations in the climate, land productivity,
oceans or other water resources, atmospheric chemistry, and ecological systems) that may alter the capacity of the earth to sustain life.
Future GEC research must address the potential impacts of GEC on human societies and
ecosystems and related options for adaptation and mitigation. For instance most climate-related decisions are
made at the local level where decision makers face extreme events (drought, flooding or other climate
impacts). Global-scale research should then be combined with local information to produce regional
research products including the treatment of human dimensions, economics, and ecosystems.
It should be recognized that GEC-related data and information are needed for management, policy,
and decision making as well as for science. The establishment of open and ongoing processes
identifying data and information requirements from research scientists and managers and policy
makers, as they evolve and change, may be of great help. These processes should encompass data
users among both communities, recognizing that although there will be areas of overlap between the
two groups, there will also be some data needs that are unique to each.
The IAI Data and Information System (IAI-DIS) is a distributed database system based on the Internet,
with the following main objectives: 1) Disseminate global change research information produced by the
IAI, and other affiliated institutions, and 2) Contribute for the standardization and exchange of scientific
data between different institutions. The intention of the IAI is to create a distributed network of Data
and Information Systems throughout the Americas. The IAI is committed to update the system
regularly, as well as include new facilities to increase the "user-friendly" characteristic of the system.
Further information about the IAI-DIS and IAI activities in general can be found at the URL www.iai.int.
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