SEOUL, KOREA – KONETIC (Korean National Environmental Technology Information Center) is a nonprofit organization financed and authorized by the Ministry of Environment as a unique portal for environmental information exchange and services. It initiated and created the systematic integration and exchange of environmental information, called ‘Environmental Industry and Technology Information System’ (www.konetic.or.kr). The system began its mission in March 2000, bringing together environmental information providers and facilitating the exchange or information between them.
The website (www.konetic.or.kr), providing a variety of electronic environmental data and information to a wide array of users (65,000 members) is the Korea’s largest environmental information portal site that provides a database having a half million specialist documents converging such fields as environmental facilities, technologies, business and management The website system is managed to deliver top-quality, value-driven, innovative environmental information through various sub-websites such as (konetic.ecoedu.go.kr), (ecojob.re.kr), (consulting.konetic.or.kr), (export.ecotrade.or.kr), and etc.
Recently, having a blueprint to become a global environmental hub, one research project (‘Reconsidering Environmental Informatization in light of E-Governance: focusing on the Korea National Environmental Technology Information Centre (KONETIC)’) was presented in the international conference at University of Washington, Seattle, which was sponsored by the Evergreen Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration and the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. This research looks at what impact environmental informatisation has on the decision-making structure in the environmental policy area in Korea and how e-governance works through environmental informatization.
The Director of KONETIC, Kim Jong-Sun says, “With the effort to publicize KONETIC globally, we are going to maintain it building a global platform to deliver a range of innovative environmental information in a mutual way between the public and private sectors. In particular, we are planning to run for the United Nations Public Service Awards that rewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide.”
