Geospatial Competency Centre

Review

Proposed Functions

1. Establish enterprise geospatial management framework2. Develop geospatial application solutions and data

products3. Develop geospatial application environments4. Deploy geospatial application solutions 5. Manage geospatial application solutions and data

products6. Establish SLA and OLA7. Coordinate geospatial application management8. Lead geospatial continuing education and professional

development activities

Geospatial Services

• Policies, standards, data/information to address municipal requirements

• Activities that transform, manage, “geo-enable” data and business information

• Processes that enable access to data

Framework Spatial Data

• Horizontal/Vertical Control Network/ ACS• Digital Elevation Models • Aerial/Satellite Imagery• Oblique imagery• Enterprise Stereoscopic Models

• Topographic Database• OAR/TCL• Cadastral Database• Utility Database• Geographic Names for physical, cultural features• Land Cover

Transitional Process

Standards

Federal Enterprise Architecture

Drivers

BusinessArchitecture

DataArchitecture

ApplicationsArchitecture

TechnologyArchitecture

BusinessArchitecture

DataArchitecture

ApplicationsArchitecture

TechnologyArchitecture

StrategicDirection

Current Future

Contextual

Conceptual

Logical

Physical

As Built

Functioning

Why

Why

Who

Who

When

When

Where

Where

What

What

How

How

Models

Adapted from NSDI “Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework”

Proposed MANDATE

Proposed MAJOR FUNCTIONS

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Geospatial Competency Centre

Manager

Provide geospatial technology, enterprise framework and solution consulting, to support, develop, maintain and guide

geospatial-enabled business applications and data products in a collaborative and federated solution development model.

1: Establish and support compliance with an enterprise

geospatial management framework:

Scope: Geospatial is a term widely used to describe the

combination of spatial software and analytical methods with

geographic datasets. The term is often used in

combination with geographic information systems and

geomatics.

Define, manage and consult on a comprehensive

geospatial solutions and application management

framework, including strategies, logical and physical

architecture designs, business design patterns, standards

(rules), processes, methods, best practices (guidelines),

development lifecycle processes, utilities, tools, end of life

cycle plans and specialized skillsets for managing

geospatial applications and an enterprise geospatial

environment.

Ensure alignment with other governing frameworks,

methodologies and standards including enterprise

architecture framework, application solution architecture

framework, project management methodology, data base

naming conventions etc.

In collaboration with Enterprise Architecture and

application teams, identify geospatial management

considerations and coordinate resolution of architectural

compliance issues or modifications to the Enterprise

Architecture.

Identify geospatial management considerations and

collaborate and advise corporate governance bodies in the

preparation of policies and standards such as enterprise

information management.

Research and deploy innovative geospatial application

technologies. Contribute to development of architectural

constructs for use at the City such as Service-oriented

architecture.

Define framework components that respect management

controls, audit requirements and appropriate legislation such

as financial separation of duties, privacy legislation etc.

Monitor, review project use of geospatial solutions and

geospatial management framework and identify quality

assurance non-conformance and the implications to both the

project and the enterprise geospatial shared environment.

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Geospatial Competency CentreProposed MAJOR FUNCTIONS cont’d

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2: Develop and consult on geospatial application solutions and data

products:

Provide centre of excellence leadership, consulting and skill-set

competency in the delivery of enterprise and line-of-business

geospatial application services and solutions, consulting and

delivering on all lifecycle stages of plan, design, acquire or build

(develop), implement (deploy), run (sustain) and dispose.

Communicate, as first point of contact for geospatial services, the

potential business value of geospatial application solutions, services

and data products. Market geospatial capabilities and opportunities

to leverage existing technologies, and foster development of new

capabilities. Participate in refining business transformation concepts

to determine technology role in enabling cost-effective business

processes. Collaborate with the Client Relationship Management

and Business Transformation areas, in conjunction with client group,

as a support on these activities.

Define functional and geospatial technical requirements for

business solutions. Lead or consult on application solution business

case preparation. Interpret business requirements into geospatial

technical requirements. Contribute to risk analysis and feasibility

assessment, develop geospatial business design, identify business

process implications and define geospatial technical and

architectural requirements.

Align application development activities with business

requirements and adhere to relevant standards, processes,

methods and tools such as City consistent design ‘look and feel’,

project management methodology, RUP etc.

Consult on procurement of geospatial-related resources

(skillsets, geospatial environment hardware, software, services),

as required, to acquire, build and sustain geospatial applications,

solutions, and data products adhering to defined procurement

procedures and standards.

Develop/acquire or consult on geospatial application solution,

use of reusable components and services and integration with the

geospatial environment. Consult on the use of geospatial

application life cycle methodology for an application solution.

Execute solution-specific develop/acquire activities that may

include scoping, modeling, requirements, design, development,

component acquisition, configuration, integration, testing, reuse

harvesting and documentation.

Define geospatial application solution test methodology that is

aligned within the test methods framework. Consult on

customization of test methods for specific business application or

data product solution. Address quality assurance specifications.

Support business testing of a geospatial application or data

product solution in the enterprise geospatial environment.

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Geospatial Competency CentreProposed MAJOR FUNCTIONS cont’d

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Promote and share experience with partners developing

divisional geospatial application solutions and data products.

3: Develop, administer and consult on geospatial application

environments and common components:

Acquire or build, sustain, integrate and consult on the use and

bridging of an application within a shared geospatial application

solution environment and common components to support

effective and efficient application solution development and

sustainment.

Ensure geospatial application environment designs adhere to

relevant policies, standards, methods and architecture.

Environments support separation of lifecycle staging, a repository

of documentation, an application sandbox, business design

patterns, content workflow processes and a library of reusable

geospatial methods or geospatial services.

Manage access to City geospatial data holdings and

environment, working in collaboration with federated units

developing and maintaining geospatial data, and developing and

maintaining business-specific divisional geospatial application

solutions and/or data products.

4: Deploy geospatial application solutions or changes:

Prepare deployment. Verify business approval and readiness

to Go Live. Coordinate with training professionals starting at the

business specification stage to plan and prepare training materials

and environment and to support technical training prior to

deployment. Plan, coordinate and prepare production environment.

Coordinate the release of the application solution into the

production environment adhering to Change Management and

Release Management protocols and procedures.

Verify the successful Go Live. Provide post-implementation

support. Conduct post-implementation review.

5: Manage/sustain geospatial application solutions and data

products:

Define and adhere to structured processes to monitor, record all

change requests whether driven by business (including business

error corrections), application (including software patches),

procedures, processes, technical platform.

Monitor and track new business solution requirements. Assess

impact, classify, prioritize and seek authorization for changes

following a structured, consistent methodology. Changes that are

bundled into a software release must be managed as a project,

adhering to application development lifecycle processes as defined

above. Adhering to the City’s Change Management and Release

Management processes, obtain authorization for change requests,

control emergency or critical requests and communicate and

execute release management processes to implement changes.

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Geospatial Competency CentreProposed MAJOR FUNCTIONS cont’d Proposed CORE SERVICES

Support business continuity of critical

application solutions and application environment

components in the event of service disruption or

disaster.

Provide 2nd level geospatial application

solution support, in coordination through the

Service Desk as first point of contact for user

support.

6: Establish SLA and OLA in partnership with the

Service Level Manager and Client Relationship

Manager, together with the Business I&T Service

Management role and clients, to ensure effective

geospatial services and support for clients.

7: Coordinate with other I&T service providers

and corporate groups such as Legal, Purchasing

and Materials Management and Human

Resources, that provide supports, to ensure

efficient and effective geospatial application

management, business solution and data product

delivery.

8: Play an active role in initiating and supporting

the I&T Community of Practice in the geospatial

realm.

Geospatial policies, standards, methods, best practices, utilities, and tools:

Develop for publication or production use, geospatial policies, standards,

guidelines, best practices, a shared staged environment, common utilities,

reusable components and tools for use by City projects and divisions.

Geospatial quality assurance: Review geospatial business design, technical

design and proposed implementation to identify conforming design elements

from an shared, enterprise geospatial hosting accountability and quality

assurance role.

Geospatial consulting: Provide consulting or arrange for provision and

oversight of appropriate coaching to projects or programs to build geospatial

applications, solutions, data products, reusable components or integration

bridges to the City’s geospatial environment and to evolve City staff geospatial

skill-set competency.

Geospatial data products: Consult, plan, design, develop and manage

geospatial data and information products, in response to business needs and

compliant with information and privacy considerations.

Geospatial application solution development and sustainment: Develop,

deploy, manage and support geospatial applications within the enterprise

geospatial environment.

Geospatial holdings management

Geospatial applications, solutions, and data products strategy, in alignment

and support of enterprise architecture and strategic planning frameworks.