Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) www.great-lakes.net

The Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) is a Great Lakes Commission-led collaborative project of agencies and organizations in the binational Great Lakes region to link data, information and people via the Internet.

Through a strong network of regional partners, representing all levels of government, academia, business, industry and the nonprofit sector, GLIN seeks:

• To provide a quick and easy gateway to the Great Lakes region of North America: eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. GLIN guides users to the highest quality data holdings from partner agencies throughout the region. Topics include environment, economy, tourism, education, history, demographics and more.
• To enhance communication and networking by hosting regional workshops and training seminars, in addition to more than 70 moderated, topic-specific email lists —- all free to anyone with an email account.
• To develop, test and share new technical and decision-support tools with partner agencies. Transactions on the GLIN core server now average 500,000 per month. More important than volume, however, is the prominent place that GLIN has found on the desks of Great Lakes decisionmakers. In keeping with the Commission’s strategic vision, GLIN has become a invaluable decision-support tool for those who make, implement or otherwise influence public policy in the region.

New partners continue to join the network daily, and organizations throughout the world are looking to GLIN as a model for online regional cooperation.