REC: The Bulletin 7/1: Information Technology

Information Technology

Your key to new Web sites

Ballerina enters Baltic stage

A new guide to a broad spectrum of information about environmental, natural resource, and sustainable development issues in the Baltic Sea region was officially launched April 29 in Stockholm, Sweden. Named Ballerina for the Baltic Sea Region On-line Environmental Resources for Internet Access, the new web site is intended to serve environmentally concerned citizens in the Baltic Sea Region, and elsewhere, ranging from students to professional environmental managers and scientists. Ballerina also provides links to a collection of relevant on-line resources, and aims at actively stimulating further on-line publishing of information concerning the Baltic Sea Region.

Ballerina is financially supported by the European Environment Agency, the Ministries of Environment in Norway and Sweden, and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Acting lead parties are UNEP/GRID-Arendal and the Stockholm Marine Research Centre. (For further information, visit Ballerina at: http://www.baltic-region.net/, or contact Dr. Sindre Langaas, Ballerina network coordinator, e-mail: langaas@grida.no)

Environmental Technology Gets On-Line

TechKnow is a new environmental technology Website which allows developers worldwide to market their innovative technologies on-line. Having debuted this year, over one thousand technologies have already been entered into TechKnow while the database is being accessed by some 22,000 users from 75 nations worldwide each month.

"TechKnow can turn a desktop computer into a worldwide marketplace," said Steve Wassersug, President of the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF) which developed TechKnow. In 1994, GETF developed TechKnow's World Wide Web predecessor, the Global Network of Environment & Technology (GNET), to encourage the deployment of environmental technologies produced by the US government. GNET now provides daily news and information on contract opportunities, market trends, and environmental initiatives.

The new TechKnow database, housed within GNET, provides summaries and information on development, intellectual property status, costs and licensing availability of new technologies, while searches are performed via targeted contaminants, media or names. Users must register, but there is no cost to use TechKnow, and anyone with access to the Internet and a Web browser, such as Netscape 2.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0, can take advantage of the database. A useful marketing tool and a cost-effective way to publicize a new technology to a targeted audience, TechKnow brings new technologies to Internet users seeking technical solutions to environmental problems. One success story involves an American business owner who entered information on new microwave vitrification technology into TechKnow. The result was a call from a Russian governmental official who was seeking just such a technology, and a potential sale, which he now credits to TechKnow. GNET is located at: http://www.gnet.org. To use TechKnow, visit GNET at: http://www.gnet.org and click on the TechKnow button on the home page. For more information about TechKnow, GNET and GETF, contact Steve Wassersug at: (1-703) 750-6401 or e-mail at: swassersug@getf.org. For more information, contact: Joelle Jordan at e-mail: jjordan@getf.org or (1-703) 750-6401.

The "Information Technology" column is THE BULLETIN's way of assisting it's readers with the dizzying wealth of information available on the Internet. Each article will detail new environmental services, where to find information on green topics, and important IT trends in the Region.

REC * PUBLICATIONS * THE BULLETIN * SPRING 1997