Maryland State Highway Administration Pilot of the Data Business Plan Guide for State and Local Departments of Transportation: Data Business Plan

Chapter 5. Data Governance Framework

This section describes the current state of governance processes at Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) State Highway Administration (SHA), as well as a recommended framework for mobility data governance.

Current State

MDOT Secretary's Office recently hired a Data Chief, indicating that data governance will certainly become a priority. This section is intended to provide background on existing governance processes and documentation.

Data Governance Division Data Business Plan

In 2016, SHA created the Data Governance Division (DGD) as a branch of the Office of Planning and Preliminary Engineering (OPPE). One of its missions is to identify a strategic approach to data management agency wide. DGD is developing a Data Business Plan to support overall data management throughout the agency, and to provide a starting point for development of data governance standards and policies for categories of data such as safety, asset, and mobility data.¹ The goals of the Plan are as follows:

1. Complete SHA data inventory (agency-wide) to identify high-value datasets and descriptive metadata such as the dataset purpose, creation date, update frequency, use constraints, and data security, privacy and confidentiality requirements.
2. Establish Data Management Plan (agency-wide) to define the architecture, policies, practices and procedures to determine how data will be authored, maintained, managed, and made available for use.
3. Establish data governance framework (agency-wide) to provide data owners and data custodians guide on how to define data policies for accountability, usage, storage procedures, and audit controls.
4. Enhance GIS server architecture (agency-wide) to optimize performance and support development, pre-production, and production environments.
5. Establish change management protocols for managing and updating SHA's data assets.
6. Establish access mechanism for SHA data that is user-friendly, well-organized, searchable, consistently updated, and capable of supporting both centralized and distributed resources.

The Data Business Plan also recommends establishing a Data Management Board to lead the implementation of recommendations and provide oversight for future data business planning efforts. The details and structure of the Data Management Board are still under development.

Data Management Plan

Consistent with the goals of their Data Business Plan, DGD is developing a Data Management Plan that outlines a plan and data governance framework at SHA to make data more accurate, consistent, defined, secure, and available.² The goals of this plan are to:

• Implement standards and procedures that facilitate information management.
• Improve the quality of the data, including accuracy, timeliness, and definition.
• Improve the security of the data, including confidentiality and protection from loss.
• Improve ease of access, assuring that data are easily located, easily accessed once located, and that people have enough information about the data to understand what they have found.
• Provide clear and accessible documentation about data.
• Make data more accessible to non-technical users.
• Reduce the redundancy of the data, by supporting sharing of data rather than replicating it in multiple sources, and by integrating data from separate operational systems.
• Make data accessible from legacy systems, bridging the gap until new systems are in place.
• Prepare for potential conversions to new systems by improving data and processes.

Once complete, the Plan will include the following components: 1) administrative roles and responsibilities for data management; 2) data architecture, including a data inventory, an assessment of existing data sources, metadata standards, and a policy for data creation, collection, and updates; 3) data security requirements, including data auditing, database access control, and schema change management; 4) data availability requirements, including performance monitoring, database development, and backup/recovery; 5) data governance plan; and 6) data governance framework.

Data Governance Roadmap

MDOT SHA recently contracted with JMT Technology Group to develop a Data Governance Roadmap.³ The project consists of the following tasks:

• Review data governance in other organizations.
• Establish goals for the Data Governance Division.
• Identify data to be included in Data Governance Plan.
• Perform gap analysis between data governance goals and current data.
• Develop strategic plan for data governance.

The effort will result in the development of a strategic plan for implementing data governance at SHA. The strategic plan will include a summary of data governance goals for SHA, the general policies and standards to be implemented, and specific actions to achieve those goals.

Enterprise GIS

SHA Geospatial Metadata Standards

This document describes how to create and update metadata for geospatial data in the eGIS. Metadata content is summarized in table 3.⁴

Table 3. Enterprise Geographic Information System metadata content.

Section	Metadata Content
Overview	Item Description Topics and Keywords Citation Citation Contacts Locales
Metadata	Details Contacts Maintenance Constraints
Resources	Details Extents Points of Contact Maintenance Constraints Spatial Reference Spatial Date Representation Content Quality Lineage Distribution Fields References Geoprocessing History

SHA Geospatial Data Policy and Standards

This document establishes the Maryland SHA GIS policy and standards for the format of geospatial data that is acceptable for incorporation into the eGIS systems of the Administration.⁵ The policy addresses data standards and its operations in the context of data life cycle phases, including planning, collection and acquisition, processing and documentation, storage and access, and maintenance and retirement.

GIS Data Delivery Standards

This document specifies standards for data delivery for all data layers developed for projects that have a GIS component.⁶ Standards are specified for acceptable file formats, coordinate system, metadata, and media.

eGIS Data Catalog

The eGIS Data Catalog contains a data catalog for eGIS contents. The data catalog identifies geospatial datasets and descriptive metadata such as data layer name, health status, dataset purpose, contact information, update frequency, map scale, geometry type, data category, source location, etc. The eGIS Data Catalog currently includes Fund 77 Active Projects, Annual Average Daily Traffic, Structures, Green Asset Management System, Highway Lighting, Line Striping, Park and Ride, and Rumble Assets.

The vision for eGIS is to complete an inventory of all data sets within SHA.

Open Architecture

SHA has adopted open architecture as a basic information processing strategy to ensure information is available to the people authorized to receive it, regardless of the specifics of their computing platform. SHA developed computer architecture standards for information technology that describe the current computing environment, including software, network environment, hardware requirements, and security requirements.⁷

Mobility and Economy Dashboard

Annual Mobility Reporting and Mobility Dashboard

Since 2012, Maryland SHA has been producing an annual Mobility Report. The mobility report demonstrates SHA's focus on applying a performance-based approach to provide a high quality and reliable highway system. In 2014, SHA improved accessibility to the contents of the Mobility Report by creating a web-based Mobility Dashboard.

Mobility Dashboard Data Catalog

The Mobility Dashboard Data Catalog identifies mobility and economy datasets used to support the Mobility Dashboard. The data catalog provides descriptive metadata such as the target location, source data layers, dependent-derived data sets, data owner, data steward, update frequency, historical data storage process, data format, processing requirements, dependent reports or applications, recurring deadlines for data, stakeholders, and map service supported.

The eGIS Data Catalog includes bike routes, congestion costs, counties and regions, HOV lanes, MDTA tolls, Park and Ride locations, pedestrian sidewalk locations, Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP) projects, reliability (planning time index), reversible lanes, Traffic Message Channel (TMC) segments, transit-oriented development location, congestion (travel time index), and volume data. Other mobility datasets are listed in the data catalog but are not included in the current version of the dashboard.

Mobility and Economy Dashboard Database Architecture Guide

This document describes the Mobility and Economy Dashboard database architecture.⁸ The basic structure is a customized relational database management design that allows for retrieval of statistical information based on user input and interaction. The architecture consists of the following components: TMC segments, locations, trends and measures, projects, programs, policies, and lookup and reference tables.

Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP) Projects

The Consolidated Transportation Program (CTP) is Maryland's six-year capital budget for transportation projects and programs across the DOT. MDOT SHA maintains spatial data for major and minor projects in the CTP. The CTP Projects Data Processing document describes standards for CTP spatial data format, including project details, project location, financial information, and construction status.⁹

Recommended Governance Framework

There is a good process in place, and the Data Governance Roadmap project will continue SHA's initial efforts to develop and implement an enterprise governance framework. It is recommended that governance for mobility data complement and leverage efforts at the enterprise level.

This section recommends a data governance framework for mobility data in the region. This includes adopting core data principles, implementing a data governance model, defining roles and responsibilities for managing mobility data, and developing supporting documents such as a Data Governance Manual, Data Catalog, Business Terms Glossary, and Data Sharing Agreements.

Data Principles

It is recommended that SHA adopt core data principles to guide mobility-related decisionmaking. The following set of core data principles are recommended by the AASHTO Subcommittee on Data.¹⁰ These data principles are also applicable for enterprise level governance efforts.

• Principle 1—VALUABLE: Data is an asset. Data is a core business asset that has value and is managed accordingly.
• Principle 2—AVAILABLE: Data is open, accessible, transparent, and shared. Access to data is critical to performing duties and functions. Data must be open and usable for diverse applications and open to all.
• Principle 3—RELIABLE: Data quality and extent is fit for a variety of applications. Data quality is acceptable and meets the needs for which it is intended.
• Principle 4—AUTHORIZED: Data is secure and compliant with regulations. Data is trustworthy and is safeguarded from unauthorized access, whether malicious, fraudulent, or erroneous.
• Principle 5—CLEAR: There is a common vocabulary and data definitions. Data dictionaries are developed and metadata established to maximize consistency and transparency of data across systems.
• Principle 6—EFFICIENT: Data is not duplicated. Data is collected once and used many times for many purposes.
• Principle 7—ACCOUNTABLE: Decisions maximize the benefit of data. Timely, relevant, high-quality data are essential to maximize the utility of data for decisionmaking.

Data Governance Model

A data governance model depicts the relationship between the mobility data programs, the various individuals/agencies responsible for implementing data governance, and the users/stakeholders for the data programs.

The model diagram in figure 2 proposes a formal structure for mobility data governance for MDOT SHA. The proposed governance model builds on current governance initiatives and includes the following components:

• The proposed Data Management Board (A) will serve as SHA's enterprise-level governance structure that establishes the principles and policies for all SHA data management issues. The structure of the Board will be determined as part of the DGD's Data Business Plan and Data Governance Roadmap (once complete). It is recommended that Board membership include directors or senior level managers from key business areas of SHA, including the Information Technology director.
• One or more Mobility Data Liaisons (B) will liaison with the Data Management Board and chair the Mobility Data Working Group.
• The Mobility Data Working Group (C) includes designated individuals from Maryland SHA's offices responsible for the oversight of mobility data programs to support the business functions of their offices. This group dictates the policies, procedures, and business practices associated with SHA's mobility data programs.
• Mobility Data Owners (D) are responsible for the creation and maintenance of a spatial or non-spatial mobility-related dataset.
• Mobility Data Stewards (D) ensure mobility data is collected, maintained, and used in accordance with agency-adopted standards or policies.
• Mobility Data Custodians (D) provide technical development and support for mobility data applications.
• Mobility Data Users and Stakeholders (E) include individuals or agencies that use or interface with, access, benefit from, or are otherwise affected by mobility data.

Roles and Responsibilities

Table 4 defines the roles and responsibilities for supporting the governance framework. These roles/responsibilities should be vetted with the Data Management Board. The roles and responsibilities listed are job functions and not necessarily job titles. In some cases, the duties of a data owner, data steward, and data custodian may be performed by the same individual.

Table 4. Data governance roles and responsibilities.^{11, 12}

Role	Description	Responsibilities
Data Management Board	An enterprise level group comprised of directors and senior-level managers from key business areas of Maryland SHA, including the Information Technology Director.	Serve as policy-setting body for all SHA data management related issues. Establish strategic direction and efficient management of enterprise data assets across its life cycle phases, including planning, collection and acquisition, processing and documentation, storage and access, and maintenance and retirement. Provide executive level support for data governance. Dedicate resources to support data management and governance as needed. Other responsibilities as outlined in the DGD Data Business Plan and Data Governance Roadmap (once complete).
Mobility Data Working Group	Association of individuals from Maryland SHA offices who collect and provide data and establish business rules and processes for the mobility data that is collected, maintained, and used by Maryland SHA. These individuals may serve as data owners, data stewards, or subject matter experts for mobility data within their office.	Develop "rules of engagement" regarding collaboration and coordination for the working group. Establish policies and procedures for the collection and use of mobility data and information. Coordinate resources and cost-sharing strategies to reduce redundancy in regional data collection, integration, and data systems. Identify and address gaps and redundancies in regional mobility data collection activities. Share current activities and best practices in mobility data collection and management. Facilitate sharing of data with internal stakeholders. Share procurement plans and Request for Proposals (RFPs) for mobility data. Review RFPs and provide recommendations based on best practices. Determine standards and procedures for collection, maintenance, and use of data, programs, and products. Provide recommendations to the Data Management Board regarding development of mobility data products to meet business needs. Recommend technology tools to support mobility data management and sharing. Identify external data stewards. Reach out to external stakeholders to identify data stewards for mobility data programs within their respective agencies and facilitate collaboration. Establish data sharing agreements and memorandums of understanding internally and with external partner agencies as appropriate.
Mobility Data Owners	Individuals within Maryland SHA and partner agencies who are responsible for the creation and maintenance of a spatial or non-spatial mobility-related dataset. A data owner can be a steward or custodian, or they could assign a steward or custodian.	Establish business rules for use of data in their business area. Authorize or deny access to mobility data and is responsible for its accuracy, integrity, and timeliness.
Mobility Data Stewards	Individuals within Maryland SHA and partner agencies who are responsible for ensuring mobility data that is collected, maintained, and used by their agency is managed according to common standards or policies. This person is typically the "go to" person within a business unit for all inquiries related to a mobility-related dataset. A steward may or may not be a data owner or data custodian.	Identify and manage metadata. Identify and resolve data quality issues. Determine business and security needs of data. Communicate data quality issues to individuals that can influence change, as needed. Provide input to data analysis.
Mobility Data Custodians	Individuals within Maryland SHA and partner agencies who provide technical development and support for mobility data applications. This may include IT staff such as application developers, network administrators, database administrators, server administrators, and IT security. This may also include application programmers and systems analysts who work in business areas other than the IT Division.	Responsible for storage of the dataset or for making it available for use. Manage access rights to data they oversee. Implement controls to ensure the integrity, security, and privacy of the data.
Mobility Data Users and Stakeholders	Association of people comprised of internal and external stakeholders who share a common interest as users or consumers of mobility data.	Communicate their agency's business needs supported by mobility data programs. Provide feedback on data quality and use of mobility data programs.

Rules of Engagement

Once the Mobility Data Working Group has been formally established, the group should develop and approve a Charter to set forth the purpose, goals, membership, roles and responsibilities, meeting schedule, and "rules of engagement" regarding collaboration and coordination for the group. Potential rules of engagement could include the following:

• Share RFPs for current and upcoming data collection activities, data acquisitions, initiatives, activities, and projects related to mobility data.
• Share current initiatives, activities, and best practices related to mobility data, including data strategies, policies, standards, metadata, system architecture, procedures, performance metrics, etc.
• Identify needs and opportunities to integrate mobility data sets to support performance-based planning and asset management activities in the region.
• Identify needs and opportunities to create links between mobility data sets and connected vehicle data sets in the future to support performance-based planning in the region.
• Identify opportunities to coordinate resource, reduce data redundancies, and implement cost-sharing strategies for the collection, management, and maintenance of mobility data. 
• Identify needs and opportunities to reduce redundancy in the development and maintenance of duplicative data systems and promote efficiency in system maintenance.
• Identify needs and opportunities to enhance data sharing and access among regional stakeholders, including the need for web portals for stakeholders to share data and information as needed.
• Understand and promote the value of mobility data as an asset within individual stakeholder agencies and regionwide.

An example data sharing agreement is provided in appendix D.

Governance Documentation

Once the Mobility Data Working Group has formally approved a Charter, the group should also develop and approve the following supporting documents to define policies, standards, and procedures for data governance in the region:

• Data Governance Manual. The manual serves as a centralized resource that formalizes data governance roles and responsibilities, data standards, policies, and procedures related to mobility data. An example Data Governance Manual is provided in appendix D.
• Data Catalog. The data catalog documents regional mobility data systems and the offices responsible for maintaining those systems. The catalog identifies the system of record for specific mobility data sources, metadata about the data systems, and contact information for the data stewards and data custodians responsible for updating and maintaining the data. It is recommended that SHA expand existing Data Catalogs to include mobility-related data assets.
• Business Terms Glossary. The business terms glossary defines how standard terminology for mobility data (such as location) is defined and used across the agency. The glossary assists IT professionals in defining/using the data correctly when developing or enhancing data systems. An example glossary is provided in appendix E.