A Symbology Change Management Process

1. A Symbology Change Management Process

2. Why Have Standard Symbology? • Cost Effective • Everyone uses same symbols • No individual effort designing symbols • Standard look and feel • Relevant to the ground • Cartographically well designed – communicate effectively • Safety issue – closed roads, etc.

3. Why Establish A Symbology Change Management Process Now? • What is different now than 5 years ago relative to symbology and text? • Data Center Migration creates a unified data and applications environment. • National Applications are maturing • Independent symbol sets don’t make sense any longer • Increasing need to be efficient & cost effective • Other agencies/partners are also addressing this issue. • Opportunity exists to create broadly accepted standards

4. The “Holy Grail” of Symbology Change Management • The change management process must: • Have a single, central point of contact • Be simple and easily understood • Be efficient • Engage/Include stakeholders interested in symbology • Be documented • Be marketed

5. Who Needs Symbology Change Management • Stakeholders: • WO Program Areas • FSNRA’s • Regional GIS Coordinators • Regional Geospatial Services Programs • Others who have a management level interest in insuring consistent design and utilization of symbology. • Users: • The folks who actually design and build maps at the field level – the people applying symbols.

6. Symbology Clearinghouse • Create a symbology clearinghouse as the central source for all cartographic symbols. • Held at/by GSTC. • Initiate a screening process for adding existing symbology to clearinghouse • Develop a symbology committee • The symbology committee will develop screening process • Screen what we have – add to clearinghouse

7. Proposed Symbology Change Management Process Request for symbol (new, change, other) FS Symbology Committee Assess need, coordinate with requestor and stakeholder(s) User/ Stakeholder Does suitable symbol exist? Refer requestor to symbol source Yes No Refer request to GSTC Portfolio Manager GSTC GSTC performs work Is symbol Acceptable? Symbol added to symbol clearinghouse/repository No Yes

8. To Make This Work… • There must be buy in! • There are five components in the symbology change management process, each have distinct roles • GAC Cartography Focus Area Lead • FS Symbology Committee • Stakeholders • GSTC • Users

9. GAC Cartography Focus Area Lead • Charter the FS Symbology Committee • Achieve buy-in from Stakeholders • Coordinate the design and implementation of the Symbology Change Management Process • Coordinate the documentation of the Symbology Change Management Process • Monitor Symbology Committee activity

10. FS Symbology Committee • Chaired by GSTC • Chartered by the GAC (Cartography Focus Area) • Members include representatives from WO Program areas and the FSNRAs and Regional Geospatial Groups • Maintain awareness of symbol sources and current FS requirements as listed in FS manuals and handbooks. • Identify and evaluate new requirements for map symbology submitted. • Coordinate communication • Pass requests for symbol creation or modification approved by the Symbology Committee to GSTC

11. Stakeholder Roles • Each WO staff unit, FSNRA, Detached Unit, or other stakeholder group will be required to: • Agree to support the process • Designate a symbology point of contact • Stakeholders in various WO staff groups are the symbology data stewards. • Stakeholder points of contact make decisions concerning requested new or changed symbology and text. • Changes involving several stakeholders will be mediated by the Symbology Committee.

12. GSTC Roles • Chair FS Symbology Committee • Administer the symbology change management process • Design and build symbology • Maintain symbology clearinghouse/ repository

13. User Roles • Become familiar with standard symbology—at least know where to find it • Stop building non-standard symbols (build symbology only when necessary and vet it through the standard symbology process) • Utilize the change management process • Provide clear justification for requested changes or new symbology • Accept decisions developed through the change management process. • There will not be symbol police. • This process works only to the extent that users abide by decisions made within the change management process.

14. Process Documentation • Once accepted and implemented, use of the Symbology Change Management Process will be documented in appropriate Forest Service manuals • The process will be maintained, and is expected to evolve over time • Changes to the process will be submitted to and adjudicated by the FS Symbology Committee. • The Symbology Committee will work with stakeholder contacts to gain agreement for changes in the process

15. So…Questions? Comments?