Shao Yubin  Fu Xiaofeng  Wang Lanying

The administrative Centre for China’s Agenda21(ACCA21), Beijing, P.R.China,100089

 

Sustainable development is one of the most important issues to the progression of human beings in the 21st Century. With the support of MOST and UNDP, China’s Sustainable Development Information Network(SDINFO) was developed by the Administrative Centre for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA21). Organizationally, SDINFO is centrally managed through one general network center, which is then connected with seventeen distributed sub-centers via the Internet. With its establishment and functioning, the internal e-networks within China were effectively linked and their capabilities are mutually reinforced. This was, at the time, the first such large scale e-networking initiative ever established throughout China.

The General-Center for SDINFO in China is located in ACCA21. Its holdings consist of 119 databases – accessible to the individual networks at no-cost – pertaining to population, resources, environment, social economy and natural disasters. Currently, the size of the general-center’s holding amount to 20 GB. It also conducts information retrieval services and provides responses to data requests, search and retrieval, and other information-related queries – including downloading services as needed. Extending e-reach throughout in support of transitions toward sustainability, are seventeen SDINFO sub-centers. These sub-centers are shown in Figure 8-2 to illustrate the reach of China’s SDINFO and range of the information systems under its overall frame. Through these sub-centers, SDINFO has engaged in a diverse set of projects.

SDINFO integrates data relevant to sustainable development. These data mainly consists of information about natural resources, ecology, and environmental disaster areas. SDINFO is acknowledged and admired by various circles of Chinese society and possesses great authority and influence. Its users consist of scientific research institutions, universities, and the general public.

Keywords：sustainable development，information sharing, database