Governance for GIS Decisions and Decision-Making

Metadata

• Author: Matthew Lewin
• Full Title: Governance for GIS: Decisions and Decision-Making
• Category: articles
• Document Tags: #data
• URL: https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcuser/governance-for-gis-decisions-and-decision-making/

Highlights

• Much of the success with GIS comes not from the implementation of the technology but its ability to build a location capability. This means marrying the technology of GIS with the science of geography and ingraining it in the organization’s DNA. (View Highlight)
• First, governance is generally a poorly understood topic in GIS circles. It’s not uncommon to hear managers say that they know they need governance, but they don’t know exactly what it means. This speaks to a lack of a shared understanding of why governance exists in the first place. This lack of understanding often results in piecemeal, unstructured attempts at implementing governance in a single area such as data access or application ownership. These are fine starting points but don’t constitute a comprehensive approach when considering the range of decisions required to sustain a modern GIS. (View Highlight)
• Second, GIS governance programs often lack attention to the ongoing job of governing. (View Highlight)
• Third, governance of GIS relies too much on other, broader levels of governance. To be clear, GIS doesn’t exist in isolation. So, it’s not surprising to see governance of GIS fall under an organization’s IT governance or data governance programs. The problem is that these corporate-wide governance programs are often too general and overlook some of the unique aspects of GIS that require focused attention. These aspects include platform decisions, unique geospatial data considerations (e.g., standards, models), and worker skill sets. (View Highlight)
• Governance is about decisions and decision-making. Specifically, it’s about defining the major decisions that need to be made with regard to an organization’s GIS (the decisions) and how and by whom those decisions are made (the decision-making). Done correctly, governance creates a system of accountability that defines and enforces the rights of stakeholders. (View Highlight)
• In practice, governance involves executing a set of processes that are defined based on the major GIS decision area they support (which will be discussed in the next section). Each process is composed of a defined set of goals, key performance indicators (KPIs), structured activities, roles and responsibilities, and policies and procedures. (View Highlight)
• Governance in the strategy domain supports alignment of the GIS vision with the business vision. Specific governance processes included in this domain are guiding principles, the strategic plan, stakeholder relationships, organizational structure, and innovation. (View Highlight)
• Governance in the platform domain enables a sustainable, flexible, and fit-for-purpose GIS technology architecture. Specific governance processes included in this domain are technology architecture, solution portfolio, platform access, and platform performance. (View Highlight)
• Effective GIS governance establishes consistent GIS data standards, architectural models, data usage, access controls, accountability across the data life cycle, and quality controls. In addition, a key architectural decision relates to the structure of data ownership. This refers to ownership of systems of record versus ownership of derived sources and the business rationale behind decision rights. Specific governance processes included in this domain are data architecture, data usage, data stewardship, and data quality. (View Highlight)
• Governance in the workforce domain supports sustaining a skilled and informed workforce. Specific governance processes included in this domain are training, development, talent management, and partnerships. (View Highlight)
• Governance in the delivery domain establishes an effective GIS operation. Specific governance processes included in this domain are service management, communications, business needs, and change management. (View Highlight)
• Governance in the investment domain aligns resources with GIS and business priorities. Specific governance processes included in this domain are budget management and investment prioritization. (View Highlight)
• While there is no single management structure that works for all organizations, a three-tiered structure is common. The first tier is a group of influencers (e.g., sponsor, executive champion, IT champion, and stakeholder champion). The second tier is a steering committee. The third tier typically consists of strategy, technical, and operational working groups. (View Highlight)