5th adc meeting

5. IOC Status and Task Force activities including Concept of Operations

I. DeLoatch introduced the topic by explaining that the work will not be done in isolation, help from all of the ADC members will be needed. The first meeting was held in July, 2008 where Task Force Members, Terms of Reference and Workplan were approved.

The primary objectives are: to define and recommend a Concept of Operations plan for the GCI; to evaluate the existing GCI components and their sustained operation in light of known and emerging provider and user requirements, reliability, suitability, sustainability, and quality of service and; to provide administrative recommendations regarding models of GCI operational solutions addressing sustainability, maintenance, enhancements, access control and security, and software licensing and ownership (intellectual property rights).
A Terms of Reference document and workplan were drafted in July 2008 for the IOCTF with the following three progressive deliverables: Concept of Operations Plan (a high-level common operational design document to include descriptions of the workflow of the GCI, with a draft due by September 22); Evaluation of Existing GCI Components (registries, clearinghouses, web portals, with a draft due March, 2009), and; Recommendations for long-term GCI operations (potential logistical points for recommendations, with a draft due April, 2009). The main effort over the next six months will be on evaluation of existing GCI components.

D. Nebert gave with a review of the Concept of Operations Document. The Conops is oriented to the enterprise perspective rather than the technical point of view and complements the GEOSS Strategic Guidance document. Its purposes are: to build consensus on the requirements, scope, and functionality of the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI); and to communicate the user’s needs for and expectations of the proposed system. The primary intended audiences of this document are the users and solutions developers who use the GCI and are responsible for its design and the owners or managers who will need sufficient knowledge to support sustained operations within GEOSS.

The Conops document will include the requirements previously written for the AIP. The document structure, operational scenario narratives, the GCI operational view, and the GCI operational interaction diagram were reviewed in the presentation to the committee. The documents will be written according to IEEE standards. The next steps are: to evaluate narratives, user types and stated expectations as functional requirements, to check alignment with the Strategic and Tactical Guidance documents, and to develop a concluding analysis section to address anticipated organizational and operational impacts of the GCI, anticipated improvements, and limitations or scope of solutions.