On the recommendation of the French Ministry for the Environment, following the initiative taken by the French government during the United Nations Conference for the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO) was created during the Aix les Bains constitutive meeting in April 1994. This network has, among others aims, that of developing exchanges of the information, experience and expertise necessary for promoting integrated water resources management for sustainable development, of facilitating the development of tools for institutional and financial management, and of promoting adapted training.

Today, this network is made up of 125 organizations in 42 countries.

A joint cooperation action between INBO member organizations, therefore aims to establish an international information base on the integrated management of river basins: "AQUADOC-INTER".

The "AQUADOC-INTER" project is based on the networking of different " National Relay Documentation Centers " (NRDCs). This will allow the member organizations to share and exchange useful institutional documentation, the references of which will be harmonized to make their use easier. These NRDCs will in fact be the focal points acting as the " window " linking national users, above all basin organizations, specialized national bases and the network.

A feasibility and development study has already been carried out for "AQUADOC-INTER" since 1997.

- INBO Permanent Technical Secretariat put together a prototype on the Internet allowing bilingual access to information on river basin management (www.iowater.org/inbo).

This prototype, aiming at illustrating the project, demonstrates its technical feasibility. It was presented for the first time during INBO General Assembly in Valencia in 1997.

- Two meetings of the Project Management Committee took place in Limoges in December 1997 and during INBO General Assembly in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) in December 1998.

Concurrently and following the Euro-Mediterranean conference on local water management in Marseilles (Nov. 1996), the Euro-Mediterranean Water Information System (EMWIS), which is based on similar organizational principles, was launched for the Mediterranean with the 27 countries, signatories of the Barcelona Convention.

The "AQUADOC-INTER" project is now being continued with the operational development of the network in the countries which have decided to play an active role, above all in Europe and Latin America and in Africa and Asia if possible.

"AQUADOC-INTER" is a tool for international cooperation, that aims to:

• Facilitate access to existing information on know-how in the water sector;

• Develop the sharing of information while making others aware of their responsibilities, activities and topics of interest ...;

• Implement common outputs and cooperation programs to develop available information and promote the collection of missing information.

Its existence implies active participation and the sharing of information and experiences of the countries involved in the system.

"AQUADOC-INTER" is above all intended for public and private operators in the water sector (governmental administrations, Water Agencies, local communities, large public developers), decision makers and professionals (elected officials and technicians, consulting firms, training and research centers, case instructors...).

However, access to the information made available through the system will be open to anyone interested in issues related to water management.

"AQUADOC-INTER" is a worldwide system of apportioned and approved information on know-how in the water sector.

This definition comprises 4 important concepts:

Above all "AQUADOC-INTER" is concerned with the information available in the 125 organizations and the 42 countries who are members of INBO.

l information is provided by the various countries or by international information sources that participate in the system;

l information remains at the level of the providers and is not centralized in a central data base.

Only the information sources which have been granted a "quality label" by "AQUADOC-INTER" managers, will be accessible through this system. Information quality, updating and accuracy must be guaranteed by each information source.

This information can be presented in various ways (references, descriptions, text summaries or full texts).

"AQUADOC-INTER" does not manage data on water resources or on uses.

AQUADOC-INTER is complementary to many international actions which generally deal:

• either with the management of data on water resources in particular (European Environmental Agency, MED-HYCOS ...);
• or with a particular aspect of "know-how" (training, rosters of local experts, ...).

EMWIS is addressing Euro-Mediterranean countries. This project, financed by the European Union, France, Italy and Spain and by the 27 countries concerned regarding their national focal points, is in its initial phase, dealing with topics, water saving among others, in the particular context of the Mediterranean basin.

Coordination between "AQUADOC-INTER" and "EMWIS" is necessary to avoid the duplication of information in EMWIS National Focal Points which may also be the NRDCs of "AQUADOC-INTER".

Generally speaking, access to servers on the Internet is nowadays the most used means in the search for information. Navigating the sites concerned with a given sector is a good work basis. The hypertext links often enable the user to discover other sites in the same sector of activity.

Discussion forums (News server via NNTP protocol) offer an interactivity and a variety of subjects per topic: the forum is one of the keys for accessing hidden information. Thus, navigating with the help of search engines is useful. Discussion forums are often access free.

The use of a Web navigator that integrates a client of electronic mail and forum management provides access to a considerable volume of information.

However, the use of the above-mentioned services, currently developed on the Internet, quickly leads to disappointment, as, in reality:

• Some sectors are still weakly covered on the Web.

• Access to useful information remains difficult on the Internet.

• There is no quality guarantee on the information thus obtained.

This is the reason why many specialized services (financial and technical data, general news ...) are, from now on, available on the Internet, and, for a fee, offer better targeted contents than the public sites.

During the meetings of the "AQUADOC-INTER" Management Committee in Limoges and Salvador, the representatives of the countries and organizations concerned decided to look at the "AQUADOC-INTER" specifications from a technical and topical point of view.

The technical aspects dealt with:

Regarding integrated water resources management at the level of river basins, a global issue taken into consideration at INBO level, we have identified a large demand for information on:

We note that:

1. There is a strong interest in accessing all forms of documentation on water;
2. The potential users wish to have user-friendly and quick search tools with relevant replies;
3. The possibility of accessing basic documents is also requested;
4. The available information must be validated and updated by the organizations.

"AQUADOC-INTER" should consult separately the local governmental institutions and water management organizations which are INBO members, in the first instance, and secondly training and research centers and universities.

The longest awaited result in this area is, in fact, being able to know about research and training activities run jointly by several countries or by the international networks.

The areas where information is available are:

Future users of "AQUADOC-INTER" wish to use the system with the help of key words and hypertext techniques; to have the opportunity to transfer data and documents by telematic means; to be automatically informed about the updating of information.

The expectations as regards "AQUADOC-INTER" mainly come from public institutions, research and training centers that wish to get access to information on equivalent administrations in the other countries;

The potential users are searching, above all, for information on legislation and regulation and on the responsibilities and means of the central, regional and local administrations.

Most of the countries have detailed information on drinking water, hydrology, meteorology, piezometry of groundwater;

Users want to have use of existing databases and to be informed about the methods for data production, management and administration implemented in the countries.

They also want to develop common methods for the areas which are less well covered like quality, hydrosystems, uses and discharges etc...

All the countries are already connected to the Internet and the computer equipment used in the countries is relatively homogeneous (PCs under Windows with Office, Access, Oracle, Arc info software are most often used);

At present the Internet is undergoing rapid expansion. This can lead to the network being overloaded, which can mean long response times for some searches;

Improvement in performance requires specific networks: private networks, research networks , specialized networks on the environment, etc...

Networks of research centers are a favorable solution.

At the first meeting of the Management Committee in Limoges (December 97), a general structure has been kept which is based on National Relay Documentation Centers (NRDCs) which will coordinate the system at national level and on a project unit at international level.

The system may also rely on regional documentation centers, as does EMWIS in the Mediterranean or the CAR of Cundinamarca in Bolivia as support of LANBO.

Management at international level will be provided by the Management Committee calling together the NRDCs. It will rely on regional working groups.

The diagram below shows the organization of "AQUADOC-INTER":

The Management Committee brings together representatives from the National Relay Documentation Centers (NRDCs) as well as the sponsors of the project. The secretariat will be provided by the project unit.

It is responsible for:

• Defining the main strategic orientations in order to ensure its sustainable operation:

• Validating the results obtained in each phase;

• Validating the "AQUADOC-INTER" yearly action plan and budget proposed by the project unit.

It meets once a year with alternate organization of meetings and can organize regional working groups.

The project unit could be composed of a consortium of operators from several countries, above all those involved in coordination or the "regional relays" covering large geographical areas, (Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa...). These operators constitute a permanent structure which is responsible for carrying out the joint actions defined with the NRDCs while respecting the general orientations defined by the Management Committee.

This Project Unit is responsible for:

• Proposing to the Management Committee the main strategic orientations, action plans and annual budgets, defined with the NRDCs;

• Coordinating, conducting, and providing a technical support to the activities of the NRDCs:
• Assistance with the detailed identification of human and equipment needs;
• Organization of the necessary training programs;
• Assistance with the elaboration of directories and frames of references;
• Organization of the information collection supervised by the NRDCs;
• Organization of approval procedures relative to national information sources;
• Assistance with the organization of access to information on NRDCs’ servers
• Assistance with the elaboration of common enhanced outputs;

• Carrying out the tasks of the "Focal Point of International Organizations":
• Inventory and approval of international data sources;
• Translation of information access protocols into the official languages of "AQUADOC-INTER";
• Development of access to international information sources;

• Developing and managing the "AQUADOC-INTER" common information server:
• Development of applications and access procedures;
• Acquisition and integration of the information foreseen at this stage;
• Management of communications with the users and NRDCs;
• Development of specialized tools for research, access and dissemination.

The project unit should be organized so that it may combine the responsibilities of several organizations and mobilize the funds necessary for its action.

It will have premises and necessary equipment means at its disposal for organizing meetings and developing the information system at international level.

Coordination with NRDCs will be implemented by way of regular meetings and by intensive use of video-conferencing.

• Corresponding minimum human resources:
  • 1 full-time coordinator
  • 1 computer expert (engineer)
  • 1 or 2 multilingual assistants
  • Several information managers who can be residents of various countries
• Required equipment:
  • A main administrative center;
  • Computer material (equipment of the permanent staff and Internet server);
  • Advanced communication means (high-flux Internet access, video-conferencing equipment...)

Each country controls the organization of its NRDC.

Generally speaking, the NRDCs will be responsible for:

• Participating in coordination and information meetings organized by the "AQUADOC-INTER" Management Committee (physical participation or by video-conferencing, depending on the case );

• Making an inventory and approving, according to the orientations defined by the Management Committee, the sources of available information in the country, that can be accessed through "AQUADOC-INTER";

• Organizing the procedures of communication and access to approved information in the country;

• Ensuring that the protocols of access to information are translated and available in the official "AQUADOC-INTER" languages;

• Developing, whenever necessary and according to the standards defined by the project unit, the tools and interface software which will facilitate access to homogeneous information in the country;

• Ensuring relations with the country’s users (analyses of the users' satisfaction, identification of new requirements ...);

• Contributing to the elaboration of the project unit’s annual action program.

In principle, a NRDC has a small team (3 persons) assigned by the relevant authorities to the "AQUADOC-INTER" project, within a public or semi-public organization in charge of gathering and disseminating documentation and information relating to the water sector in each country.

This team should have the means necessary for coordinating the tasks (premises, telecommunications, video-conferencing...) and for developing the information system used at national level.

• Corresponding human resources :
• 1 full-time coordinator;
• 1 computer expert (network-specialized engineer and webmaster);
• 1 multilingual assistant.

• Required equipment :
• Adequate premises with a conference room and office space for receiving the partners;
• Computer material (equipment for the permanent staff and specific Internet server);
• Advanced communication means (access to Internet through specialized connections, video conferencing facilities).

The setting up of "AQUADOC-INTER" can only be achieved by way of a simple, pragmatic, progressive and feasible program with a great capacity for development.

This program must emphasize from the start the advantage of the system and allow for a progressive integration of the partners. It could be broken down as follows:

• Organization of AQUADOC-INTER's management structures;

• Multilingual access in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese as a priority;

• The development of access to information on four topics (Documentation, Training and Research, Institutions and Data Administration) with:

• The implementation of "AQUADOC-INTER" through the creation of two regional priority networks: Latin America and Central Europe, where water documentation centers which could play the role of " National Relay Documentation Centers " (NRDC), already exist.

If, from a methodological point of view, the technical approach for each of these networks is identical, and thus may allow economies of scale, it is clear that specific missions for the purpose of building up these two networks imply an investment which is specific to each area.

However, the main effort will focus on the creation and progressive development of National or Regional Relay Documentation Centers

n  - Within the European context, the regional Central and Eastern European network will rely on the following National Relay Documentation Centers from the outset:

It will make sure that a liaison is established with EMWIS, which was developed within a Euro-Mediterranean framework and also aims at networking the partners of the 15 European Union's Member States, Spain, France and Italy in particular, with those of the 12 other countries bordering the Mediterranean and signatories of Barcelona Convention.

n - Within the Latin American context, the regional network AMELA relies on a Regional Relay, organized by the CUNDINAMARCA Regional Autonomous Corporation, organized within LANBO, the Water Information Center whose development is planned by the Organization of American States (OAS) and National Relay Documentation Centers (NRDCs) which are in the identification phase in Brazil and Mexico.