Improving Management of Transportation Information (2013)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

1 State departments of transportation (DOTs) need relevant and reliable information to sup- port effective decision making. DOTs need this information to be readily available and acces- sible to users at a reasonable cost. Because significant amounts of time and money are expended to collect data, generate and store information, and make information available to users, DOTs need guidelines and good practices in managing transportation information The information produced, managed, and used by transportation professionals has moved from static narrative documentation to dynamic databases that are used to produce reports and visualizations. Geographic information systems (GIS) have had a significant effect on trans- portation information because transportation infrastructure is location-based and geospatial visualization appeals to transportation information users. Narrative reports and other types of documents are still important, but most are now produced digitally. This shift to digital information has created challenges for information professionals in creating, managing, clas- sifying, and storing transportation information so such information can be found and used by transportation professionals for their daily tasks. Data and information have long been regarded as strategic assets of DOTs; now there is a surge of “big data.” The term refers not only to the burgeoning quantity and scope of data being collected and stored, but to the increased opportunities for extracting, from massive data, useful infor- mation that can help people gain understanding and make better decisions. Corporate giant IBM, for example, explains: “Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data—so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. This data comes from everywhere: sensors used to gather climate information, posts to social media sites, digital pictures and videos, purchase transaction records, and cell phone GPS signals to name a few. This data is big data.” (http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/bigdata/; accessed 6/21/2013) The technologies enabling data collection and information management are advancing at a furious pace, often much faster than DOTs’ information-management capabilities. It costs money to produce, use, and store information. Although DOT information is expen- sive to create, its value increases each time it is used. If information is not managed well and cannot be found when needed, then it has less value. The more efficient a DOT is in managing and using information, the greater the value of that information. Measuring the value of information is difficult. Traditional measures of return on invest- ment (ROI) focus on cost analysis and savings; however, exponential advances in information technology and data analysis have led to speculation that these measures are inadequate and that the economic benefits of information management are better captured by measures of customer satisfaction and quality of product offered. If a DOT can capture data on its trans- portation assets more efficiently and make that information available to users for various applications, then information management has increased value. This is especially true when I N T R O D U C T I O N Improving Management of Transportation Information

2 Improving Management of Transportation Information considering the potential losses associated with redo loops for work recently performed, but for which information about the work is not accessible. Given the scarce resources at most DOTs, inability to find information (both recently generated and historical) is wasteful. The rate, type, and amount of information created pose a challenge to effective governance and management of transportation information. Rapidly changing information technology is also a key factor. The varieties of terms used to describe the information, formats in which data and information are stored, and users’ expectations for information continue to change rapidly. There are no commonly accepted guidelines for a DOT’s information governance and man- agement or standard capabilities required for agencies and their staff to manage the agency’s transportation information across all information sources effectively. This report presents the results of research conducted for NCHRP Project 20-90, “Improving Management of Transportation Information.” This report will help meet the need for guide- lines and good practices in managing transportation information at DOTs. Objectives The objectives of NCHRP Project 20-90 were to provide guidance on (1) practices DOTs can use for capture, preservation, search, retrieval, and governance of transportation data and information; and (2) strategies and actions a DOT can follow to implement these practices. The guidance was intended to be sensitive to the diversity of state DOTs; the range of transportation information that DOTs use (related, for example, to project delivery, environmental review, and operations performance, as well as network configuration and design detail); and the variety of formats for transportation information (e.g., text reports, photographs, plans and drawings, geo-coded databases, and financial analyses). No single approach to managing transportation information is likely to meet the needs of all DOTs; guidance on management practices must provide flexibility for an agency to adapt recommended practices. To meet these objectives, the guidance presented in this report includes three principal ele- ments: (1) background explanations of key information management concepts, (2) summary case studies of management practices adopted by several DOTs that agency managers believe have improved agency performance and quality of transportation system service, and (3) sug- gested approaches for DOT personnel to take to improve management of transportation infor- mation. The primary audience for this report will likely be DOT information and data managers, but the contents may also be useful to any DOT leaders undertaking to communicate the value of information management to various audiences, promote establishment of strategic informa- tion management guidelines, and encourage collaboration among information technology (IT) professionals, data owners (e.g., project delivery and environmental review departments), and information managers (e.g., librarians and GIS managers). Use To get the most benefit from the material presented in this report the following approach is recommended: 1. Assess the DOT’s existing practices for managing transportation information. This includes, but is not limited to, identifying needs and gaps; categorizing needs as to where they fit in the information management process; and prioritizing the most critical (i.e., top three) needs. 2. Identify good practices to be adapted for use at the DOT. 3. Develop an information management plan to guide the improvement of existing information management programs or the development of new information management programs.

Introduction 3 4. Evaluate and document risks associated with implementation and support of the informa- tion management plan. 5. Develop an action plan to implement the information management plan. The action plan identifies champions in business areas of the agency (information management professionals at the DOT) to help support implementation of the information management plan. 6. Evaluate, at least annually, the information management plan to improve the processes and tools and therefore the management of transportation information. Organization The report has three main parts: • Part 1, Terminology and Categorization Standardization, summarizes the current trans- portation information management landscape and discusses the following topics, which provide context for Parts 2 and 3: – Developing a common categorization scheme for transportation information management and identifying enhancements in detail or scope of information that should be included in such schemes; – Strategies for developing a common terminology and categorization scheme that could be made available for use by DOTs; and – Practices from other fields that may be adapted for improving DOT management of trans- portation information (e.g., file formats, naming conventions, and information preserva- tion strategies). • Part 2, Survey, Case Studies and Examples, and Use of the Cloud (1) describes the survey approach and summarizes the major research findings from the survey; (2) provides case studies and examples; and (3) summarizes cloud computing and states’ activities in adopting cloud computing policies and installations. Part 2 presents the research efforts and specific findings. • Part 3, Making Improvements in DOT Transportation-Information Management Prac- tices, defines the common elements of data and information within DOTs, proposes a model of the processes used for information management, discusses stakeholders’ roles in information management, and presents information DOTs can use to capture, administer, and retrieve information, as well as govern transportation data and information activities. Part 3 presents ideas that DOTs can use to improve their management of transportation information. In addition, a list of terms, acronyms, and abbreviations is provided.