Page 20 Thursday, December 24, 2020 EAG TALK Using Knowledge and Information to support Planning and Adaptation for future generations By the Department of Envi ronment Today, we are living in an increasingly digitally con- nected environment, which has become even more so with the advent of the novel, coronavirus (COVID-19), which requires mandatory limited physical contact and social distancing, This means more digital transformation initiatives especially from government, such as stream- lining and automating pub- lic “services, and” the dissemination, storage, secu- rity and efficient utilization, of public information and knowledge, through the in- troduction of information technologies. ‘The Department of Envi: ronment (DOE) ensures that Antigua and Barbuda is able to develop strategic environ- mental policies for the com- mon collective protection of our planet as under the Paris Agreement, a5 well as re- porting to demonstrate com- pliance with our obligations under Multilateral Environ- mental Agreements (MEAs) to which the country is a party. ‘The DOE is a knowl edge-centric organization, developing scientific mate~ rial to support policy devel- opment, as well as to ensure that there is mainstreaming, of policies and initiatives germane to the mandate of the Department as under Part Il section 4 (2) of the Ex vironmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA), 2019. Moreover, as a small- island developing state (IDS), that is also classified Altendees of the KIMS Workshop atthe Department of Environment. (Photos courtesy of the Department of Enotronment) as a small vulnerable econ- omy (SVE), Antigua and Bar- buda has to ensure maximum utilization of its resources, and also proper return on investment for the deployment of such re- ‘The DOE is an Accred- ited Entity (AE) under both the Adaptation Fund (AF), and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and as part of the Ac- creditation Master Agree ment (AMA) with the latter, has embarked upon the roll- out of a Knowledge and In- formation Management System (KIMS), which also will support the Environ ‘mental Information Manage- ment and Advisory System (BIMAS) as required under Part X of the EPMA. ‘The DOE as part of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda also stand to bene- fit in terms of developing greater internal capacity with the capture especially of tacit knowledge, and the retention and re-use of this, knowledge to ensure that all this expertise is available for future use in a sustainable manner without having to solicit this expertise outside the organization, Additionally, through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP), the DO! using resources from. the GCF under an enhanced di- rect access (EDA) pilot in the public, private, and civil so- ety sectors of three Eastern Caribbean small island de- veloping states, namely: An- tigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of | Do- minica and. Grenada, also known as the EDA Project will be supporting the adap- tation initiatives such as the Local Area Plan (LAP) devel- oped by the Development Control. Authority (DCA) during 2018-2019 with addi- tional’ support from the OECS Commission The introduction and celebration of Arbor Day, and now Arbor Month by the Department, no doubt supports institutional strengthening, as well as greater inclusivity of stake holders locally and wider afield, Antigua and Barbuda is also a party to the Bscazi Agreement and therefore a KIMS is key to supporting environmental justice, while ensuring that sui generis sci- ence data and information being properly captured, shared, and re-used to strengthen climate change adaptation efforts. We are therefore ensuring proper documentation of these ef- forts, and the DOE seeks to solicit your feedback on how ‘we may better support plan- ning and adaptation for fu- ture generations. (Mr. Emerson O. Bryan, Senior Project Officer, Knowl- edge and Information Manage- ment)