Applying Citizen Science and Design Science for Groundwater Management

This project is in response to the call for information systems (IS) research to help achieve sustainability goals. We utilize design science and citizen science to collect and process information to enable appropriate use of groundwater, a critical resource in achieving sustainability. Following the design science research approach, we develop and refine IS artifacts for participatory groundwater management. The artifacts consist of a software application to collect data on groundwater and a visualization dashboard to represent the collected data in an appealing and useful form to the stakeholders. The citizen science approach helps properly utilize groundwater resources by involving citizens in data collection and decision-making using IS artifacts. The dashboard developed for this study has undergone several iterations of evaluation and changes in design. We employ a systems approach for a comprehensive evaluation of the two artifacts used in groundwater management. The study demonstrates the role of design science and citizen science in achieving sustainability.