S&T Poland is developing an IT system to collate data relating to natural habitats from databases and registers in the Polish Ministry of the Environment. This data will be made available via the so called Eco-Portal (www.ekoportal.pl) and presented using GIS* tools. The project is expected to be completed in the middle of December 2008 and has a volume of more than 1.1 million euros.

The Eco-Portal is planned as an information service that will be operated via the Center for Environmental Information, an institute reporting to the Polish Ministry of the Environment. The center’s role is to provide information and raise awareness about the environment and its protection. The Eco-Portal will also enable state agencies to administer and manage publicly accessible environmental protection documents, as required under EU regulations. S&T has been commissioned to develop a central data pool and an IT system that ensures reliable communication and a secure flow of data between the environmental databases and registers administered by public institutions, as well as presentation of this data using GIS* tools. “S&T Poland won the public call for tenders for this project and began work immediately, due to the tight timeframe. We are amongst the leading IT consultants and service providers in Poland, and the public sector has great confidence in us too“, explained Christian Rosner, S&T CEO.

Data Consolidation
Within the system, S&T will create multiple data-access levels and will be training the administrators and users of the system. These will primarily be staff from state and local administrative agencies that are responsible for maintenance of the environmental databases in Poland. Currently, data is obtained from a multitude of various databases, registers and catalogs, which often differ greatly as far as their structure, area of validity and update cycles are concerned. Such circumstances make it impossible to analyze the data in a consistent manner and allow users to present it via a single user-friendly interface.

Flexible System
The Eco-Portal Service (www.ekoportal.pl) will disseminate environmental protection information relating to Poland, as well as information about funding available for environment-related projects. In addition, data relating to eco-tourism, nature conservation and waste processing and recycling will be made available. “The flexibility of the system, allowing interactive communication with citizens, means that the system itself can be influenced by users, administrative staff, environmental activists, scientists and those interested in the environment. I am confident that this service will raise ecological awareness in society, support environmentally friendly behavior, promote active living and create new opportunities for the Eco-Portal to become Poland’s ecological Internet window on the world“, said Cezary Starczewski, Director of the Center for Environmental Information.

* Geographic Information System