Open AccessCrossing the Death Valley to Transfer Environmental Decision Support Systems to the Water Market
Author(s) -
Poch Manel,
Comas Joaquim,
Cortés Ulises,
SànchezMarrè Miquel,
RodríguezRoda Ignasi
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
global challenges
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2056-6646
DOI - 10.1002/gch2.201700009
Subject(s) - bridging (networking) , key (lock) , water sector , domain (mathematical analysis) , risk analysis (engineering) , business , management science , environmental planning , computer science , engineering , geography , computer security , water supply , mathematical analysis , mathematics , environmental engineering
Environmental decision support systems (EDSSs) are attractive tools to cope with the complexity of environmental global challenges. Several thoughtful reviews have analyzed EDSSs to identify the key challenges and best practices for their development. One of the major criticisms is that a wide and generalized use of deployed EDSSs has not been observed. The paper briefly describes and compares four case studies of EDSSs applied to the water domain, where the key aspects involved in the initial conception and the use and transfer evolution that determine the final success or failure of these tools (i.e., market uptake) are identified. Those aspects that contribute to bridging the gap between the EDSS science and the EDSS market are highlighted in the manuscript. Experience suggests that the construction of a successful EDSS should focus significant efforts on crossing the death‐valley toward a general use implementation by society (the market) rather than on development.