BACKGROUND

Although data provide opportunities to facilitate decision-making at transportation agencies, there are challenges involved in managing large and diverse data that serve multiple business needs. These challenges are manifested in various aspects of data management, such as data quality assurance, integration, and access. NCHRP Synthesis 508: Data Management and Governance Practices provides information on practices in data governance, data warehousing and cloud computing, data integration and sharing, and data quality assurance. This information can be used by transportation agencies to learn about and ultimately advance the current state of the practice in transportation data management and governance. NCHRP Synthesis 508 also showed that a pyramid-shaped data governance structure is commonly used in the data governance area. This structure consists of (1) an upper-level council or committee providing oversight and strategic direction, (2) enterprise data stewards providing coordination across business units, and (3) stewards accountable for the quality and use of individual information technology.

Since the publication of NCHRP Synthesis 508, data governance and management practices have evolved, and new practices, such as an increased focus on digital project delivery and data integration, are emerging, requiring a reassessment of the state of practice. Therefore, there’s a need to capture and share the current state of practice to enable transportation agencies and state departments of transportation (DOTs) to adapt and better address their organizational needs around data management and governance practices.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this project is to document and promote current and emerging data management and governance practices, among transportation agencies of various levels of maturity, and successes and challenges on these practices. This objective will be realized through the conduct and analysis of two peer exchanges, and the development of communication and dissemination products developed for and refined by the peer exchanges. Each peer exchange will deal with topics that may include, but are not limited to,

• Data governance and management,
• Data quality assurance,
• Data literacy training,
• Data integration and sharing,
• Data warehousing,
• Data security,
• Data governance technology solutions,
• Organizational change management (roles and responsibilities), and
• Value of implementing a data governance program.