1996 Annual Report of the
Computer Policy Advisory Committee

CPAC envisions a Water Resources Division information resources management environment that will enable all employees and cooperators to be productive in data acquisition, information analysis, and product preparation, archiving, and dissemination. This environment will be efficient, cost-effective, flexible, easy to use, integrated and powerful.

Early in the organization of CPAC, four factors critical to success of the Division's use of computer systems were identified:

1. Effective utilization of human and capital resources

2. Flexible, clear acquisition policy and strategy

3. Mainstream hardware and software that are adaptable and provide flexibility for specialized applications and meets or exceeds expectations

4. Computing environment that enables the Water Resources Division to effectively accomplish its mission

CPAC has led the Division by instigating a variety of actions in order to meet these factors.

In 1996, major recommendations made by CPAC to the Senior Staff were:

• Port all current functions of NWIS-I to DG with no changes in functionality and implementation completed by 9/97.
  
• Develop a strategy and funding mechanisms for use and support of the World Wide Web in the accomplishment of the mission of the USGS.
  
• Continue the National Computer Technology Meeting, focusing on training and presentations.
  

In 1996, CPAC workgroups and the Distributed Information Systems office have provided reports, such as:

• Descriptions of three options for non-DG computing systems including a table on estimated support costs in addition to current DIS-2 support.
  
• Documentation of the DG resources needed to run the ported NWIS-1 system.
  
• Guidance to the field regarding procurement of Office Automation software.
  
• An assessment of the Division's computer environment providing information that can be used to make sound decisions regarding computer hardware and software and to guide in the development of staffing and training plans for the period 1997-99. This report has generated a number of follow-on activities for CPAC that should lead to significant improvement in the Division's use of computer systems.
  

In 1997, major tasks that workgroups and the DIS office will accomplish are:

• Review WRD charting software capabilities in order to revise existing specifications into functional categories, determine to what extent existing software capabilities meet those needs, perform a market survey to determine if any other software can meet those needs, and make a recommendation to CPAC on the best course of action.
  
• Develop a minimum set of data needed to provide an inventory of the WRD computing environment and devise strategies for implementing the system, and storing, retrieving and updating the information in the database/inventory.
  
• Develop computer-related training classes using a budget based on funds that can be recovered from equalization fees.
  
• Analyze DIS organizational structure and funding.
  
• Develop network utilization metrics for both routine and extraordinary conditions and provide recommendations for network configuration.
  
• Evaluate of electronic forms software.
  
• Prepare a literature study of total ownership cost of desktops.
  
• Update the "WRD Computing Environment for 1997 through 1999" report to provide a rolling three-year analysis of the increasingly mixed and dynamic hardware, operating system, network, applications software, and computer management environment available to WRD to support its future missions.
  

In order to communicate with all facets of the Division CPAC has:

• A membership that represents the Divisions diverse user community.
  
• Held town meetings in Altamonte Springs, Lawrence, and Las Vegas.
  
• Finalized a Charter, including business rules to streamline meetings.
  
• Provided access for all USGS users to CPAC documents and information on the WWW.
  
• Asked DIS that each issue of "Discussions" contain an update on developments using Windows NT, Wincenter, and non-DG Unix around the division.
  
• Asked Regional Computer Specialists to request districts plan their individual computing environments, using the FUTCOM2 report case studies as examples, as part of Program Review. This would be followed by a compilation by the Regional Computer Specialists.