OBJECTIVE

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.

This project will 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.

TASKS

The project will be delivered through the fulfillment of the following tasks:

1. Develop a Synthesis of Literature through a review of the existing literature (i.e., research articles and reports from projects by state agencies and DOTs, AASHTO RAC surveys), online surveys and phone interviews, to collect up-to date information from state agencies and DOTs. 
2. Develop a potential list of participants for the peer exchanges, along with their roles and responsibilities, that will be used by the project panel to help finalize the actual list of participants.
3. Develop a document for the peer exchange participants, that includes a list of resources for their consideration. 
4. Conduct pre-planning for peer exchanges through a series of joint conference calls with selected agencies to build the event agenda; discuss peer exchange objectives, state attendees, and technical topics; and coordinate logistics.
5. Conduct two live peer exchanges and conduct appropriate post-peer exchange activities to capture feedback and potential improvements.
6. Synthesize results from both peer exchanges, that includes the analysis of information from the exchanges, identification of common themes or issues, and a summary of key findings.
7. Develop the final report documenting the activities and results of the project. The final report will include a stand-alone technical memorandum titled "Implementation of Research Findings and Products", that will provide practical guidance on how to apply the research results, the final product(s) of the research, the target audience, impediments to successful use of the results, leaders for implementation, and the activities required for successful implementation.