Government environmental programs generate large volumes of laboratory, field, spatial and historical information. The central challenge is not simply collecting it, but maintaining a reliable record that can support decisions, audits and public communication for years or decades.
A single groundwater, contaminated-land or infrastructure program may involve government officers, laboratories, consultants, field contractors, asset managers, GIS specialists and independent auditors. Each participant can produce information in a different format, under different naming conventions and at different intervals.