Research project AS/DD/19 (Research action AS)
The creation of a bank of indicators for sustainable development requires a clear methodological framework (for reflection) as well as structured, standardised information.
In a data bank, it is desirable to store information according to a previously-defined structure. Any person wishing to introduce new data is then presented with a form that clearly indicates their location (for instance, where to enter the indicator name, the definition, etc.). Consequently, it becomes much easier to search only for the information needed at a given moment. Someone who wishes to obtain a list of indicator names is not obliged to consult the entire data bank, and can do with the boxes containing these names. Data banks also allow links to be created between various sources of data. As such, if each indicator is shown with the name of an organisation using it, it is possible to establish a link with a data bank describing the organisations. Moreover, information from data banks can be automatically converted into web pages, making it possible to enter and consult data in a data bank through the Internet as well.
Of late, there exists a platform-independent international standard known as eXtended Markup Language (XML) for the creation of structured documents. It is also possible to create links between these documents, which can be easily converted not only into HTML documents for the Internet, but also Word documents and records for a data base such as Access. Although XML is still fairly new, it should rapidly win users over (as was the case for e-commerce). A number of XML editors, navigators and other tools are already available on the market. XML's main advantage lies in its platform independence and its established international standardisation. XML documents can be exchanged between different computers and operating systems without any problem. In addition, the markup language is perfectly adapted to applications involving metadata.
The main underlying goal of the project (to reach the strategic objective) is to develop metadata for indicators, which will be concretised through the creation of standard data sheets that can be used to describe indicators and their reciprocal links. Data sheet quality is determined by overall applicability, which can be determined once a sheet can be used to describe the IDSs (indicators for sustainable development) of the city of Ghent and other initiatives dealing with urban indicators, as well as those of the VRIND, BRES, MIRA-T, OECD, IMF, World Bank and other organisations. End users should be able to find the information they are looking for quickly and efficiently, and anyone likely to enter new data should not be (overly) hampered by technical obstacles.
In the framework of this project, the CDO (Centrum voor duurzame ontwikkeling - Centre for Sustainable Development) intends to study whether XML can be used as a standard for SDI data storage, management and exchange, in preparation for the rapid development of electronic data management seen at the global level.
