Using a Concept of Operations to Support Regional Integration Projects

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Using a Concept of Operations to Support
Regional Integration Projects
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Purpose and Project Sponsor

• Introduce the concept of operations and its role
  in regional, statewide, and multi-state
  transportation management systems
• Provide an overview of guidance document
• This project was sponsored by the Transportation
  Management Center Pooled-Fund Study program

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Presentation Outline

• The Concept of Operations in the Regional Context
• Importance of a Concept of Operations for a
  Regional Integration Project
• Challenges Posed by a Regional Integration
  Project
• Developing and Using a Concept of Operations for
  a Regional Integration Project

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The Concept of Operations in the Regional Context
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Concept of Operations and Systems Engineering

• Systems engineering is essential for developing
  and building large, complex projects
• The Concept of Operations is the critical first
  step in initiating this process

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Role Within Systems Engineering
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Planning and Regional Projects

• Regional ITS Architecture
• Regional Concept for Transportation Operations
  (RCTO)
• Concept of Operations for a Regional Project

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Concept of Operations, ITS Architecture, and RCTO
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Importance of a Concept of Operations for a
Regional Integration Project
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Concept of Operations provides structured,
comprehensive guidance by

• Serving as a tool to identify and engage
  stakeholders
• Identifying the users of the proposed system
• Developing goals and objectives
• Revealing institutional barriers
• Describing the current infrastructure and
  institutional framework

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• Providing scenarios showing how the proposed
  system should function
• Describing the current operations within the
  region
• Differentiating between appropriate local and
  regional functions
• Identifying the resources necessary to build,
  operate, and maintain the new system
• Detailing the number and types of agreements
  needed
• Defining the roles and responsibilities of the
  various agencies involved

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Challenges Posed by a Regional Integration Project
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As compared with a stand-alone or localized
system, in a regional system there is

• Greater difficulty in identifying and bringing
  together stakeholders, who represent diverse and
  sometimes competing interests
• A more complex process for forging essential
  agreements
• A greater need for communication, while
  communication is usually more difficult to
  establish and maintain

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• A greater need for the coordination of management
  and control (interoperability) of the system,
  which is made more difficult by
  inter-jurisdictional institutional barriers
• Greater technical complexity in the proposed
  integration, making it difficult to present and
  therefore "sell" to stakeholders and the public
• Greater difficulty in securing funding for the
  building, operation and maintenance of the
  proposed system

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Developing and Using a Concept of Operations for
a Regional Integration Project
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Concept of Operations Development

• Initiation of the Process
• Stakeholder Identification and Involvement
• Developing the Elements

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Initiation of the Process

• Assembling the Writing Team
• Required Resources
• Staff vs. Consultant
• Transportation-related Documents

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Stakeholder Identification and Involvement

• Institutional Barriers
• Institutional Inertia
• Tunnel Vision
• Intra-agency Barriers
• Performance Measures

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Developing the Elements

• Scope
• Referenced Documents
• User-Oriented Operational Description
• Operational Needs
• System Overview
• Operational and Support Environment
• Operational Scenarios

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Scope

• Boundaries can be functional, political or
  institutional as well as spatial and temporal
• Avoid over-scoping
• Early Stakeholder and User Identification

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Referenced Documents

• The Concepts of Operations and Functional
  Requirements
• Regional Business Planning Documents
• Human Resources
• Regional Studies
• System Development Meeting Minutes
• Strategic Plans and Strategic Plan Updates

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User-Oriented Operational Description

• Describe the user's roles and responsibilities
  including shared responsibilities
• Interactions between systems and subsystems
• Describe all policies and procedures
• Descriptions both in this section and in
  Operational Scenarios

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Operational Needs

• Regional operational needs not met by current
  system
• Context and methodology for assessing these needs

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System Overview

• High-level description of entire system
• Diagrams recommended

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Operational and Support Environments

• Physical operational environment
• Institutional environment

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Operational Scenarios

• Most important segment of the Concept of
  Operations
• Stakeholder and user input
• Regional initiative requires more scenarios

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Use a Concept of Operations in Regional
Integration Initiatives

• High-level Functional Requirements
• Cooperative Agreements
• Planning

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Support for Functional Requirements Development

• User-oriented description of the proposed system
• Concept of Operations developers are not
  necessarily the functional requirements
  developers
• Must clearly describe the technological variance
  and institutional authority factors affecting
  cross-jurisdictional operations

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Cooperative Agreements

• Concept of Operations supports agreements for its
  own development
• Concept of Operations supports agreements needed
  to design, build and maintain the system
• Concept of Operations informs the degree of
  formality required

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Planning

• Concept of Operations for a regional project is
  particularly useful for planning at the regional
  level