Summary of the Water Resources Information Sharing and Training Program for Developing Nations
© 2004 Southern DataStream, Inc. 

Southern DataStream, Inc. (SDS) and Intelligentsia International, Inc. (III), specialists in water resources internship programs seek to provide a Florida-based instructional program that combines direct work experiences with tours, seminars, and community involvement focusing on the values of a pluralistic, democratic society.  The partners will deliver advanced training experiences in water resource management tailored both to the needs of students and professionals from less developed parts of the world, and to the wider economic and societal needs of these regions. The program will utilize the cultural, educational and technological resources of south Florida, and multinational human resources assembled in south Florida and cooperating international locations to assist in program administration.  Key roles in the staff support structure are assigned to cooperators from the European Union and other countries considered traditional allies of the U.S.A.  This multinational approach ensures that participants from developing nations are exposed to multiple, diverse experiences with democracy and provides cultural enrichment to the training group. In this way, the multinational approach to overseas assistance is maintained.  The program is envisioned as a short-term (four months) experience with the number of participants limited to twenty at any one time, composed of two groups of ten participants whose arrival is staggered at two-month intervals.  Integrated with the international participants will be a smaller group of U.S. students who will both provide cultural balance and context.  All participants will be housed in closely supervised dormitory facilities to ensure program accountability and security.

Components of the program will include communications training and instruction in international professional culture and the practice and significance of civic engagement.  The SDS/III training program is unique in its offering of an intensive hands-on training program with supervised experiences in both the technical and social aspects of water projects in a region subject to intensely competing demands for municipal, agricultural and environmental use of water.  These educational experiences are offered along with historical context as to the background science, economics, and politics surrounding the projects.  The program thus provides participants with an appreciation for the challenges of a career in natural resource management and the dedication required to maintain professionalism, ethics, and ideals over the long term.  Most importantly, this project-support training program will contribute to the environmental and human aspects of globalization through its incorporation of an ongoing and mutually beneficial component promoting connectedness among nations and peoples.

Program participants will have the opportunity to study from among the leading-edge technologies and practices which are maintained and developed in south Florida, including: aquifer storage and recovery, surface reservoirs and storm water treatment systems, micro-irrigation technologies, alternate farming methods, public-private partnerships, land acquisition and easements, new equipment design and development, hydrological monitoring and data analysis, GIS-based resource inventories, advanced computer modeling, river channel restorations and urban/rural water conservation projects.  Participants will distill and interpret the knowledge they accumulate from field trips and activities in order to gain a broad appreciation for the multifaceted nature of regional water management.  The participants will combine their new perspectives with concurrent study of ongoing projects in their home nations to create project summaries and analyses for publication on an Internet-based water resources information clearinghouse, OurWater.net.  This training Web site will be created and maintained by the students and professionals in English and their native language(s).  Language classes will be provided to participants whose English facility does not meet the minimum required standard.


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 © 2004 Southern DataStream, Inc.