Information Management

The collection, processing, storage and sharing of diverse types of information is essential for CEAM. Qualitative and quantitative information, including traditional knowledge, is produced and used throughout the CEAM Framework. Baseline studies and monitoring, research, and the audit and reporting functions provide feedback and decision support to the other components. Information will also be generated through land-use planning, project-specific EIA, and regulatory processes. Much of this information may be relevant to the activities undertaken in other components of the CEAM Framework. The users of information on cumulative effects include communities, project proponents, environmental non-governmental organizations, interveners in regulatory and project review processes, and government departments and agencies. The challenge for information management is to connect these users with the information that they need in order to participate effectively in CEAM.

The importance of information management is increasingly recognized in the NWT. The Steering Committee notes, however, that there is currently no comprehensive information management system in place to collect, catalogue, manage and distribute the substantial quantities of information relevant to CEAM. While parts of such a system may exist or be under development within various organizations, there is significant potential for gaps, duplication of effort, and a failure to take advantage of economies of scale. A fragmented approach to information management also raises specific challenges relating to system compatibility, standards for data and metadata, confidentiality requirements and the accessibility of information, diverse user needs and capabilities, organizational capacity, and limitations relating to human and financial resources.

For more information on workshops and information managment, please go to the following links:


     Land Use Data Sharing
     Workshops and Information Managment
     NWT Cumulative Impact (CIMP) and Tariuq Monitoring Programs
     Aurora Research Institute
     Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Co-op
     SID (Spatially Integrated Dataset) Viewer
     Mackenzie River Basin Board
     Government of the Northwest Territories - Resources, Wildlife, and Economic Development
     Canadian Arctic Resources Committee

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