Interactive Decision Support
Multiple objective planning increasingly relies on interactive decision support systems (DSS) that provide transparency and stakeholder engagement.
Interactive DSS can
- centralize data and information that represent one or more objectives and uses
- capture, share, and compare many people’s ideas about planning options
- help people to understand the real-world implications of different management regimes and environmental conditions
- reveal tradeoffs among possible management scenarios
Interactive decision support systems can provide a forum in which decision makers and stakeholders share information and examine alternatives in real time. In the context of multiple objective planning, interactive DSS are best used for integrating, understanding, and analyzing data and alternative scenarios.
Governing bodies must still make difficult decisions among alternative solutions, but these alternatives can be established and understood more quickly and holistically. Interactive decision support systems are an important shift away from software programs and models that only address single management objectives and sectors. Interactive DSS also represent a change from closed-door committees and other decision-making methods that may lack the transparency and stakeholder inclusiveness required for successful implementation.
The need for a robust, transparent interactive DSS tends to increase with the number of planning objectives and the complexity of the tradeoffs among planning options. At the same time, the data requirements, technical challenges, and cost of DSS implementation also increase.
Recommended Features
A decision support system for multiple objective planning should include or link to the following features:
- An intuitive user interface
- A concise description of the role of the DSS in the planning process
- Easy comparison of management alternatives and tradeoffs
- Authoritative data with accepted standards endorsed by government
- Downloadable data that can be moved easily among different platforms
- A straightforward, understandable explanation of uncertainty, accuracy, and limitations associated with the tool and underlying information
- Technologists who are available throughout the MSP process to provide user support and to refine the DSS as needed to meet planning goals
- Capacity on the planning team to evaluate the evolving technology for online, interactive decision support and to determine how the DSS can continue to meet user needs and stay relevant
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