Web based information systems

The ever-increasing growth and penetration of the World Wide Web and associated technologies is bringing about significant changes in how information is organized and managed, with far-reaching consequences for the information systems of a great number of organizations. Moreover, the increasing reliability of tools and techniques stemming from the "Web revolution" is rendering it ever more convenient to base the development of new applications on this technology, especially because of the great advantages it affords in terms of scalability and distribution. The present article deals with the fundamental characteristics of information systems based on Web technology and illustrates the problems that need to be tackled in their development and management. By way of concrete example, an information system implemented for the Italian Ministry of the Environment is briefly discussed.