Database Green: Software, Environmentalism and Data Flows in China

Significant efforts towards environmental transparency have been made by the Chinese government since 2008. This paper focuses on the technical decisions shaping a database of official pollution information built and operated by a Chinese NGO known as the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE). Issues of standardization, power distribution and institutional fragmentation are discussed. The paper illustrates a case of NGOs integrating enforcement capabilities as data centres amidst the growing reliance on processes of informational governance of environmental issues. 摘要 自 2008 年始, 中国政府为使环境信息透明做出了巨大的努力。这篇论文主要研究一个官方污染信息数据库的技术发展, 以及其信息公开渠道。这个数据库由一个名为“公众环境研究中心”的中国民间组织建立和管理。 此文讨论了标准化、权力分配和机构分割问题。这篇文章论证了民间组织弥补环境制度化执行的可行性; 以及在对环境问题“信息管理”重要性增加过程中非政府组织如何作为数据中心获得新的能动力量。