Pacific Northwest (PNW) State

RequirementsGathering Workbook

TABLE OF CONTENT

Foreword

Executive Summary

Introduction and Overview

Workbook Purpose and Scope

Roles and Responsibilities

Methodology

Planning Assumptions and Considerations

Appendix

Appendix A: Worksheet Completion Checklist

Appendix B: Operational Requirements Worksheets

Appendix C: Business Process Mapping Worksheet

Appendix D: Technical Inventory Worksheet

Appendix E: PNW Requirements Gathering Points-of-Contact Directory

Appendix F: Acronyms

Appendix G: Glossary

Foreword

On behalf of the Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), we want to thank everyone in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington who are participating in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Regional Pilot (henceforth referred to as, “PNW Regional Pilot”. As determined at the plenary meeting held on September 29-30, 2009, in Tacoma, WA, the pilot will develop and demonstrate theability of the states’to support a regional visualized informationsharing platform. The next step in the pilot is to assist each state in gatheringand documenting operational requirements, business process maps, and technical requirements. PNWState Requirements Gathering Workbook (WB) is designed to help states complete these tasks in an efficient and effective manner, and to ensure that information is collected in a consistent fashion from all pilot participants.

ThePNW Regional Pilot will demonstrate a capability that significantly improves informationsharing and thus aids decision making during emergencies and day-to-day operations from the local level to the national level, across all jurisdictions. This WB aids that process by providing an information-collection framework for steady state, pre-incident, incident, and post-incident actions performed by local, tribal, state, and Federal agencies. Sections of the WB will help document the processes that states currently use; identify the ideal processes for informationsharing; determine the gaps between the current and ideal states; and develop solutions to bridge those gaps. The final product will assist our technology teams to develop a technical solution based on operators’ needs.

As we collectively move through the WB, the DHSPilot Support Team (PST) is available to assist where needed. The PST will conduct on-site technical assistance visits; host and manage a collaborative workspace where states can post their results; and review requirements from other states as we work toward state-based solutions.

Completing the WB sections is no small task, and we thank you again for being part of this significant undertaking. We look forward to your continued participation and collaboration in developing state-by-state and regional emergency management processes.

Executive Summary

The WB provides a comprehensive overview of the requirements-gathering efforts performed by the five participating states, with support from DHS. The PNW Pilot is focused on steady state, pre-incident actions, incident actions, and post-incident actions, and the role these efforts play in reducing the loss of life and property during emergencies.

The PNW Pilot will address the needs of the state and regional emergency management community; improve emergency management efforts; and develop scalable information sharing models that other jurisdictions and regions across the Nation may employ. The WB is comprised of six key sections:

1.Introduction and Overview

  • Provide an overview of Virtual USA (vUSA) and the PNW Regional Pilot

2.Workbook Purpose and Scope

  • Defines the pilot process and provides a requirements workbook for documenting operational requirements
  • Clarifies how state-, regional- and Federal-level information will be further developed into requirements
  • Outlines a gap-analysis process between what already exists and capabilities for the desired future system
  1. Roles and Responsibilities
  • Define the roles of all stakeholders as it relates to the requirements WB completion
  1. Methodology
  • Explains how the workbook is customized to fit states’ needs, and how the states are oriented to the process of completing the workbook
  • Highlights how states will compile and formulate requirements and the business mapping process
  • Operation Worksheets
  • Business Process Maps
  • Technology Inventories of data layers, hardware, software, and systems
  • Outlines a gap analysis process between current and future desired emergency management processes
  • Outlines how the implementation team will assist states to update and test their information sharing capability
  • Defines the regional demonstration, testing, and evaluation process and follow-on capstone demonstration
  • Describes the After Action Conference and Report, which will indicate the next steps for developing next generation requirements and technical solutions

5Planning Assumptions and Considerations

  • Clarifies requirements planning assumptions and considerations for states, Federal agencies, and the PST
  1. Appendix
  2. Appendix A:Workbook Completion Checklist
  3. Appendix B:Operational RequirementsWorksheet
  4. Appendix C: Business Process Mapping Worksheet
  5. Appendix D: Technical Inventory Worksheet
  6. Appendix E: PNW Requirements Gathering Points-of-Contact Directory
  7. Appendix F: Acronyms
  8. Appendix G: Glossary

Introduction and Overview

Virtual USA and Pacific Northwest Regional Pilot Overview

  • Supported by the First Responder Technologies (R-Tech) program, the Command, Control and Interoperability (CCI) Division within DHS S&T is leading the vUSA initiative.vUSA creates a cost-effective nationwide capability that significantly improves informationsharing and enables improved decision making during emergencies and day-to-day operations. vUSA ensures that emergency management professionals at all levels have immediate access to the information they need to make decisions, when they need it, which shortens response times and saves lives and property.

Pacific Northwest Regional Pilot

  • CCI and R-Tech will partner with five states (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington) to implement a pilot program that leverages lessons learned and best practices from the Southeast Regional Operational Platform Pilot (SE ROPP). DHS will facilitate the development of a governance structure that defines a policy for sharing information. In this effort, DHS will also provide technical assistance to ensure that data sets from local,tribal, states and Federal sources can be visualized on individual platforms within participating pilot states. A major pilot milestone will be a capstone demonstration showingthat the required technology, governance policies, and procedures are in place for seamless information sharing on demand and in a real-time setting.

Pacific Northwest Regional Pilot Operating Environment

  • The WB was drafted by reflecting on each state’s response to the Capabilities Assessment completed in September 2009, and by conducting reviews of our conversations in the Tacoma, WA,plenary meeting. The stated goals of that meeting wereto consider the diversity of the regional operating environment, andtomaintain the integrity of each state’s current emergency management system. To do this, the requirements-gathering plan recognizes the uniqueness of each state,their current processes, and the barriers that they face in achieving their desired end state. At every step of the requirements-gathering process, the WB takes into consideration these unique operating environments by enabling state entities to provide the information they deem most useful and to invite participants (e.g., local, tribal, state, Federal, private sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)) that they feel will be most helpful.

Workbook Purpose and Scope

The purpose of the WB is to establish a framework for gathering requirements for state and regional emergency management, and for actions performed by the five participating states, with support from DHS.

The PNW Pilot will:

  • Address the needs of the state and regional emergency management community
  • Provide a state-wide capability that the emergency management community will use to better support emergency management
  • Provide a range of replicable and scalable information sharing models that can be used for emergency management activities within the region, as well as for other jurisdictions and regions across the Nation.

As a building block for vUSA, the PNW Pilot helps integrate existing informationsharing frameworks and technologies to enable collaboration at the local, tribal, state, and Federal levels by providing critical context for information - thereby making it actionable. However, first and foremost, the goal will be to deliver improved emergency management capabilities to pilot participants.The PNW emergency management community is defined as:

State Level:

  • State agencies and state-selected local, municipal, city, county, special districts, tribal, Urban Area Security Initiatives (UASI), private sector, NGO’s, and State level Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) and Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CI/KR) Sections.

Regional Level:

  • Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), Regions X and XIIIincluding Regional ESF and CI/KR sections, and DHS Office of Infrastructure Protections (OIP) Protective Security Advisors (PSA) Program.

Federal Level:

  • National Guard, FEMA Headquarters, DHS, and any additional Federal entities based upon recommendations from the Executive Steering Group and Regional Steering Group.

The scope of this pilot includes steady state, pre-incident, incident and post-incident activities within the PNW region. The WB also helps document the triggers that indicate transition points within the emergency management cycle. The categories of an incident are defined below:

Steady State

  • Refers to operational periods when there are no incidents or threats significant enough to activate emergency operations (this is highly scalable depending on jurisdiction or agency, and whether it’s at the local, state or Federal level). During steady state the focus is on monitoring and providing situational awareness through constantconsistent reporting.

Pre-Incident

  • Transition from steady statetoincreased monitoring as events or threats require more detailed situational awareness (e.g.,storms show flood potential, forest fires impact populated areas)

Incident

  • Activation: A major incident occurs or is imminent. Response processes are put into place, and resources are poised to supportincident response.
  • Response:Immediate actionis taken to save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic human needs. Response also includes the execution of emergency plans and actions to support short-term recovery.
  • Recovery: Development, coordination, and execution of service- and site-restoration plans; assistance programs to promote restoration; additional measures for social, political, environmental, and economic restoration; evaluation of the incident to identify lessons learned; post-incident reporting; and the development of initiatives to mitigate the effects of future incidents.

Post Incident

  • Demobilization: Return to steady state
  • After Action Reporting (AAR): Review plans, processes, and actions during the incident and consolidate issues in the AAR. The AAR is used for process improvements, and could also be used as a performance assessment tool as future incidents are monitored to see whether improvement has occurred.

Roles and Responsibilities

To complete the WB, states will need to rely on the continued efforts of various working groups and support staff. The chart in Figure 1 demonstrates the WB completion work flow. The PST will support participants as each State Working Group (SWG) completes its WB and submits the results to the Operations Working Group (OWG) and Technical Working Group (TWG). The descriptions following the chart help define each working group’s responsibilities.

StateWorking Group (SWG):

  • States will develop their own internal project structure to best match their needs.
  • Representatives from these groups will staff the steering and working groups that will serve as the state’s voice on the various aspects of the project. The members may include: The Adjutant Generals (TAGs), emergency managers, State Chief Information Officers (CIO), Geographic Information System (GIS) personnel, and contingency planners, to name a few.
  • The SWG will compile the data to complete the WB, communicate any questions or edits to the PST, and assist in scheduling meetings to complete the WB.
  • Members of the SWGs are listed on a Pilot Directory maintained by the PST and available on the Community of Practice (CoP).

Operations Working Group (OWG):

  • States will assign delegates to serve on the OWG taking into account their respective needs and resource constraints. Although there are no set requirements for candidates, members of previous pilot work groups have included: contingency planners, emergency managers, emergency responders, and public health officials, to name a few.
  • The OWG will meet to assist each state in completing its operations worksheet in the WB. The OWGwill also define the regional governance structure and operational requirements for acapstone demonstration of information sharing during winter storm and flood season.
  • Members of the OWG are listed on a Pilot Directory maintained by the PST and available on the CoP

Technical Working Group (TWG):

  • States will assign delegates to serve on the TWG as needed to take into account their respective needs and resource constraints. Candidates may hold technology related positions such as: (CIO), technical and analytic staff, (GIS) specialist, etc.
  • The TWG will assist states in identifying and inventorying their relevant data, hardware, software, and systems in the technology worksheet of the WB.
  • Members of the TWG are listed in a Pilot Directory maintained by the PST and available on the CoP.

Pilot Support Team (PST):

  • The PST will be led by program managers from CCI and R-Tech.
  • The team will consist of the pilot manager, operations manger, business process specialist, logistics manager and resource manager.
  • There will be subject matter experts in: Operations, Business Process, GIS, Networking, Databases, Governance, and Resources.
  • The PST will help states implement their capability by:
  • Presenting and orienting state participants to the WB, its structure and the process for its completion. The PST will fully support the states on completing the WB.
  • Using the WB information to create a map of the current and future state of its business processes.
  • Assisting the state in identifying and implementing the operational and technical changes necessary to develop their state capability.
  • Based on the state’s needs, the PST will also assist with outreach by creating briefing information, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and pilot updatesto provide continuous external and internal communications thoughmessaging, branding, and public and internal department awareness.

Methodology

Below is the methodology for gather requirements to assure that state systems can seamlessly share information. Although some activities can occur simultaneously, we recommend following the outlined sequence to achieve successful outcomes.

  1. Assemble State Steering Group and Assign Members to Workgroups
  • The goal of the WB is to document current emergency management operations procedures for the pilot.
  • To document the processes and related shared information during steady state, pre-incident, incident, and post-incident activities, each state participant in the regional pilot will create an SWG, or populate their SWG with an existing working group.
  • Working Group members are strongly encouraged tobecome members of the PNW Regional Pilot CoP to facilitate informationsharing among pilot participants.
  • In most cases,the SWG may include state representatives identified for the OWG, selected specialists from local jurisdictions, members from critical infrastructure, private sector, or NGOs and other interests involved within the states emergency management community.
  • It may be prudent to have technical representatives available to provide inputs on data content and types, and to expose them early in the pilot operations process.
  1. Complete WB Orientation with PST
  • In coordination with the states, the PST will draft aRequirements WB to assist states in compiling their requirements for managing emergencies.
  • State point-of-contacts (POCs) will review and comment on the WB, and submit suggestions on how to improve the process.
  • Once the WB has been reviewed and revised, the PST will resubmit the agreed upon information to the Working Group Leads to distribute to members of the OWG and TWGs.
  • The PST will host virtual orientation meetings for all the state points-of-contact and working group membersto help the states understand the workbook content and processes.
  • These meetings will also serve to establish more complete knowledge for participants that are involved in the requirements-gathering process. These meetings will also seek to find ways to streamline the assessment process, and to minimize the impact of this pilot on the state’s daily operations.
  • Figure 2outlines the WBreview and completion process

  1. Complete Operational Requirements
  • The operational requirements documented in the WB will help states understand the gap betweencurrent capabilities and the desired end state.
  • State Operations Working Group members will answer the questions listed in Appendix B of the WB.
  • The PST will coordinate the completion and formatting of Appendix B: Operational Requirements Worksheet
  • The states will upload their findings on the CoP.
  1. Initiate Business Process Mapping
  • The SWG members are encouraged to submitconcept of operations (CONOPs) standard operating procedures (SOPs), field operation guides (FOGs), and checklists; and to consult any local, state, tribal, Federal, private sector, and NGO resources as they see fit to accurately document their specific process.
  • Once the PST receives the operations material, the business process specialist will create a flow chart of the documented processes.