The Role of Information Systems Management in the Management of Water

Abstract

The primary aim of water information systems management is to serve the social processes which give the information systems context and meaning. The social processes related to water in South Africa have changed substantially in the past 25 years and particularly since 1994. This chapter will consider the past, present and future roles of information systems management in the context of these changes. The central issues of access, affordability, and balancing power relations with respect to information in an increasingly complex web of integrated water and social systems are key themes in this chapter. The subject of water has many organizational and disciplinary facets. It is not the intention of this chapter to deal with the role of information in each of these in detail. The approach has been to explain and explore the key strategic elements of the role of information systems management in the management of water in South Africa, particularly in relation to water resources management, although many of the messages which follow are generic and apply to both the water services and water resources realms. The decision to distil out the generic messages has been a conscious one that is consistent with approaches to deepen understanding of management issues in situations where a focus on specific content may blind the reader to key management issues. It is commonly stated that ‘information is power’. This is particularly true in the complex historical, geographical and water setting of South Africa. Issues of access, affordability, complexity, interpretation and balancing knowledge power relations in the dynamic, democratic interplay amongst role players, with respect to water related information, are of central importance.