Journal of Accident Investigation
Journal of Accident Investigation
Journal of Accident Investigation
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CHARLES H. SIMPSON<br />
and controlled records had been eroded, making it increasingly<br />
difficult to access the right information in a timely manner.<br />
Information technology tools were amassing increasing amounts<br />
<strong>of</strong> information but were not designed to manage it in an<br />
enterprise-wide fashion. In short, technology was contributing<br />
to the problem, not helping to solve it. It was apparent that if<br />
the gaps were not dealt with in a substantive way, the strength<br />
<strong>of</strong> the TSB’s product, quality information, would be weakened,<br />
its credibility would be negatively impacted, and its value to<br />
Canadians would diminish.<br />
The challenge, <strong>of</strong> course, was how to address the problem.<br />
Like most safety investigation agencies, the TSB is relatively<br />
small with modest resources dedicated almost entirely to<br />
supporting day-to-day operations. Any commitment to address<br />
the information management shortcomings in a sustainable<br />
manner would require a substantial deflection <strong>of</strong> human and<br />
financial resources over a protracted period <strong>of</strong> time.<br />
Convinced <strong>of</strong> the long-term imperative, the TSB embarked<br />
upon a project to develop an integrated IM/IT platform to<br />
support the organization and, in particular, our investigation<br />
teams. Known as the TSB <strong>Investigation</strong> Information<br />
Management System (TIIMS), the goal is to implement an<br />
integrated set <strong>of</strong> documents, content, records, cases, workflow,<br />
forms, and project management practices and tools. Another<br />
notable feature <strong>of</strong> the system is the development <strong>of</strong> a Reference<br />
Centre that will consolidate those <strong>of</strong>ten hard-to-find policies,<br />
guidelines, operations manuals, checklists, and other reference<br />
tools into a single area for easier access. Accomplishing this<br />
goal will require a major effort <strong>of</strong> employees who are already<br />
busy with their normal functions. “Buy in,” particularly amongst<br />
managers, and the recognition that people and substantial<br />
financial resources would have to be diverted full-time to this<br />
undertaking, were the two first critical hurdles to overcome.<br />
Indeed, two and a half years into the project, they are never far<br />
from the surface.<br />
Two other fundamental decisions concerned the s<strong>of</strong>tware<br />
tools and the methodology to be employed in the project. The<br />
first was relatively straightforward; a small agency would never<br />
be able to afford development <strong>of</strong> new s<strong>of</strong>tware from the ground<br />
up. A team-oriented plug and play environment was required<br />
and for that, Micros<strong>of</strong>t’s Sharepoint Portal and Services products<br />
were chosen as the foundation pieces.<br />
The change management tool employed is based upon<br />
the use <strong>of</strong> business reference models. These models provide<br />
a common description <strong>of</strong>, and context for, an organization’s<br />
business practices. They are used to facilitate user consultation,<br />
to manage project scope, and to assist in the transition to the<br />
new practices and tools. The effort required to develop and<br />
obtain agreement with these models is considerable but, without<br />
that foundation, the development <strong>of</strong> an integrated information<br />
system would be impossible. In particular, their use leads to a<br />
standardization <strong>of</strong> practices and terminology that can only<br />
strengthen the organization in a variety <strong>of</strong> ways. However, in<br />
the early stages <strong>of</strong> the project, these eventual advantages were<br />
not apparent to everyone and sustaining momentum required<br />
ongoing effort.<br />
The essential problem with our current system is that<br />
automated investigation tools, data systems, document<br />
management, and the various business practices by which<br />
information products are produced and stored are not<br />
connected. This results in multiple entry and information<br />
collation challenges that are not only time consuming but<br />
also create the risk that information will not be available for a<br />
specific requirement at the right time.<br />
The new platform will replace the TSB’s current Intranet and<br />
will comprise a hierarchy <strong>of</strong> gateways or portals and pre-defined<br />
investigation workspaces (figure 1). The gateways will be<br />
primarily information based while the investigation workspaces<br />
will organize and integrate the many tools needed by our<br />
investigation teams. Since it is recognized that the system will<br />
evolve with time, the approach has been to build the system in<br />
modules so elements can be easily added, removed, or modified<br />
and to establish the appropriate governance tools needed to<br />
manage these changes.<br />
As part <strong>of</strong> the development and implementation process,<br />
a series <strong>of</strong> pilots has been undertaken, using real-life<br />
investigations, to validate the new tools. This approach<br />
maximizes input from those for whom the workspaces are being<br />
developed, thereby enhancing the potential for buy-in and<br />
successful implementation. The objective is to have the first<br />
version <strong>of</strong> the new system in operation by the end <strong>of</strong> March<br />
2006. Other modules remain to be developed and incorporated<br />
in the following year(s). Nevertheless, we are confident that<br />
most <strong>of</strong> the critical gaps identified in our risk assessments will<br />
be resolved or significantly remediated by the first operating<br />
version; identified risks will have been substantially reduced.<br />
There is one other key decision that has been required<br />
to optimize the probability <strong>of</strong> success for this project. The<br />
individual accountable for the developmental aspects <strong>of</strong> the<br />
system cannot be expected to also manage the transition to, and<br />
permanent operation <strong>of</strong>, that system. Therefore, the TSB has<br />
assigned those responsibilities to a full-time operations manager,<br />
once again from within current resources. It would be tempting<br />
to ignore this additional commitment simply because <strong>of</strong> its<br />
short-term impact on current activities. However, for an<br />
undertaking as fundamental and far-reaching as this, it would<br />
be unrealistic to assume that once development is “complete,”<br />
transition and steady-state operations would automatically fall<br />
into place.<br />
6 NTSB JOURNAL OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION, SPRING 2006; VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1