About the FREP Information Management System

Previous Project Manager Updates

FREP IMS Project Background

The purpose of the Forests and Range Evaluation Program (FREP) is to determine if forest and range practices, policies and legislation in British Columbia are achieving government's objectives for FRPA resource values, with a priority on environmental parameters and consideration for social and economic parameters where appropriate.

To help realize this, the FREP Information Management System Working Group was formed to provide guidance toward development and implementation of a province-wide information management system that will be used by a wide variety of stakeholders. The Working Group is committed to producing a user-friendly, quality-assured product through a participatory process involving the districts, regions and headquarters staff.

 

Summary of Key Milestones

 

Requirements Gathering Process

The initial requirements gathering phase took place during 2005. Two district workshops were held in each region during the fall of 2005, with a final confirmation session held in Vancouver in December of that year. In all, more than 60 people were involved in reviewing the initial requirements.

With each new release, additional requirements gathering is done by members of the working group and documented by the CGI Business Analyst. This research involves defining enhancements suggested by the user groups and new checklists to be added to the database.

A detailed list of the progress of enhancements suggestions is tracked on the project’s SharePoint site; with each new release this list is updated and enhancements are prioritized by the project’s working group, and implemented as time and dollars allow.

 

Proponent Selection and Application Development

In the Spring of 2006, a Request for Proposal was published and the successful proponent (CGI) has been refining requirements and building the FREP Information Management System (FREP IMS) since that time. The developers work under the direction of the FREP IMS Working Group, with Frank Barber of Forest Practices Branch and John Gallimore of Information Management Branch acting as co-Project Managers.