Service-oriented architecture of environmental information systems to forecast the impacts of natural disasters in South Korea

Purpose: While high-quality information is critical in decision-making for environmental issues and assessing the impact of natural disasters, there is a significant lack of research on how environmental information systems (EISs) can be integrated through service-oriented architecture (SOA). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the EISs in South Korea and to propose an SOA to improve the quality of EISs. Design/methodology/approach: This study follows the design science research methodology proposed by Peffers et al. (2007). A pilot test was conducted with Environmental Impact Assessment Support System (EIASS) end users based on the modified DeLone and McLean’s IS success model to discern the moderating effect of SOA readiness. Findings: This study proposed a new SOA for the South Korea EIASS; the work processes among EIASS, nationwide EISs and local EISs are also analyzed. Conceptual and hardware SOA for the EIASS were presented. The finding shows that SOA readiness has a significant moderating effect for EIASS end user benefits. Practical implications: Supply chain managers can exploit GIS-based environmental information, which can be provided by the new EIASS architecture, to estimate the risk of a natural disaster within the geographical region of their supply chain. Originality/value: This is one of the few studies in the EIS literature that propose an SOA to improve the quality of EIS. In addition, the study remodeled DeLone and McLean’s IS success model to assess the proposed SOA for EAISS and found that the new SOA would be useful for end users.