Land Data Model

The Land Data Model describes business information that has a geographic location and is vital to the ministry. This article explains the need for the Land Data Model and the need for business issue resolution.

The Need for Better Information

The ministry is under intense pressure to do a better job of managing forest land, and is expected to function more effectively with current staffing levels. The organization changes that have occurred (and are occurring!) since April 1994 are part of the attempt to deliver better service. However, the ministry also needs better land information management capabilities.

As late as 1991, the basic information the ministry collected at the district about cut blocks was: Area, Location, and which tenure harvested the block. Now, cut block status is very important, so field staff differentiate cut blocks in various ways - for example: Initial Plan, Advanced Plan, Approved Silviculture Prescription, Current Year Approved, Deferred, Previous Year's Logging, Not Sufficiently Restocked, Survey Verified (Not Greened Up), Selection Harvesting.

This indicates the overall trend in business today of collecting more and more information. Unfortunately, the ministry has not yet accepted, across the province, standard gathering methods or even definitions for much of this information. Without such fully defined standards, staff can rarely automate data collection and cannot share data effectively. This is especially true for land-related (spatial) data. This results in increased staff workload, duplication of data and effort, collection of information in different ways, and increased errors in entry and interpretation.

Land Data Model Project

The ministry's Strategy For Management of Land Information identified the Land Data Model Project as a key initiative. The Land Data Model documents the land-related business information requirements of the ministry from a cross-program and cross-district perspective. A key purpose of the project is:

• Identify and model land-related business information, within the ministry's areas of responsibility, from a cross-program perspective.

The Land Data Model, therefore, provides an overall blueprint of the spatial information the ministry needs to conduct its business. It contains descriptions of land-related business items (for example, Activity Treatment Unit, Cut Block, Forest Cover Polygon, Opening, Range Unit, Recreation Feature Polygon) and related business issues. Information Management Group (ISB) published the draft model in April 1994 - just when the ministry reorganization was in top gear. Since business staff could not devote their full time and attention to the model, they could not adequately absorb the full content, improve the definitions, and fully identify the issues. Therefore, the model is not yet complete - but it has a good start. To build the model, Information Management Group staff first interviewed representative from headquarters branches who are responsible for any data directly related to location. Chilliwack and Vernon district staff reviewed the model, suggested additions and improvements, and identified additional business issues. The additional issues were significant, many of them relating to Forest Practices Code implementation. These business issues are in nearly all cases sticky and difficult to resolve. That, of course, is why they remain issues.

Resolving Issues

Some issues even appear simple on the surface, but become complicated very quickly. To resolve them, the Custodian (of each business item program area responsible) must negotiate the best possible business solution among a varied audience, including different program areas, districts and regions. (See ministry policy #7.3, Corporate Information Custodianship; or ISB's Guide S35, Management Guide to Custodianship.) By default this agreement is hard to get and takes significant resources; we have the additional problem that our underlying business is complex. However, business in the 1990s, today's society, and initiatives such as the Forest Practices Code dictate that the issues must be resolved - the ministry has no choice.

What's Next

Because resolution of business issues is so important, Information Systems Branch will continue to raise the profile of the Land Data Model and its issues to the level necessary to induce action. This may be difficult in itself since ministry staff are already burdened by the reorganization.

In addition, we must work out how more districts can become involved. This will ensure there is a representative sampling of district staff.

The impact of the Land Data Model is long-term in nature. The major intent of the model is to help the ministry get ready for automated business solutions, by the time technology is being considered for purchase (such as GIS technology). By identifying the data structures needed, and identifying and resolving any related business issues first, the ministry will design effective and efficient business solutions.

An initial design project dealing with the ministry's overall spatial database design is now under way (INCOSADA - Integrated Corporate Spatial and Attribute Database).