One of the conditions for the success and prosperity of an organisation (firm) is the existence of a quality information system and its ongoing innovation. The tempo of development of information systems and information technology (IS/IT) is rapid and maintaining an orientation in this field is demanding. Enterprises and institutions must be prepared in time for the changes that innovations in the field of IS/IT bring about. Information is coming to be understood by the management of firms as the fundamental key to the creation of added value. The theory is accepted that information represents the non-material property of an organisation and using IS can mean for organisations a significant strategic advantage.

It has been fifteen years since the World Commission for the Environment and Development of the United Nations published the report entitled "Our Common Future", with its well-known definition of lasting sustainable development. Questions relating to global aspects of the environment and the sustainable development of society have gradually moved into the forefrong of the interest of philosophers, scientists, and professionals in the field of technology, and is coming to be more and more the subject of articles and reports in the press, as well as the focus of television programmes and political discussions. Even in the field of construction we can observe changes in the way in which broader connections are understood and some specific positive examples of this. The construction and operation of buildings represents an important part of the overall influence of technology on nature, and to a considerable degree determines the quality of the environment for the existence of all life forms, including humans. This professional supplement contains two parts which directly relate to the issue of the sustainable construction of buildings.

When in the spring of 1997 the City of Prague decided to begin construction on a system designed to protect the city from flooding, no one could have guessed that in the very near future this subject would become of such pressing relevance. Following the considerations of the previous years, as well as research, theoretical studies, and the implementation of local measures, a decision was made on the basis of information drawn from flooding experiences abroad, especially in Cologne, to make priorty use of a system of mobile barriers which without inflicting any strong visible changes to the appearance of the city, especially in its historical parts, are capable of preventing damange to property and cultural monuments. The mobile barriers are to be used primarily in the historical centre of the city, especially in the Old Town and in the Malá Strana quarter, and at transport intersections. In sections which in terms of view are less exposed and in areas where new construction is still only being prepared or in the outlying areas of the city more stable measures will be employed, such as walls and dams.