Advancing the Diffusion of Digital Spatial Data Handling for Upgrade of Decision Support for the Regional Environmental Managers

History shows that from time to time, progress in advancing functionality in one or other of these requirements has contained the diffusion and adoption process. In Australia, at present, it is adoption by third-tier government agencies and local organisations that is such that the biggest gap between potential and actual deployment is exhibited. Especially, can it be argued from a survey of local-area (e.g. LGA, DSE regional offices) GIS Lab data processing practice, that there is a lack of data flow coherence. This paper presents results of an analysis of the relative significance of constraints upon adoption of the full power of digital spatial data handling with coherence in the service of the PINP and related organisations. The coherence problem is shown to be overcome by adopting a data directory model including well-trailed data dictionaries. The biggest constraint is shown to be access to adequate software for data sharing and maintenance; mainly a problem of finding the funds to pay proprietary software license fees. Although this is not unusual, it is shown that recent advances in efforts to promote data sharing and spatial data visualisation, worldwide (in the form of open-source software) promise a revolution in the construction of detailed geographies (time and space) such that transparency and utility are greatly improved, and the user-base of the digital spatial database can greatly increase in size by extending itself to include many naive users. Exemplification is made using several decision support tasks faced by Phillip Island natural park rangers, Shire environment officers and community LANDCARE groups. GIS, empowering the regional environmental managers in the interests of maximising the value of spatial information and the implementation of public policy promoting diffusion of digital spatial data handling and transparency in government. This main aim of this paper is the out-reach web GIS for regional environmental managers.