Brainstorming on the Role of the XML Working Group

The following ideas were generated at a brainstorming session conducted by the XML Working Group on April 29, 2002, following a presentation by GAO concerning its XML report. GAO's report and presentation are available, respectively, at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02327.pdf & http://xml.gov/presentations.asp#20020429. The minutes of that meeting are at
http://xml.gov/minutes/20020429.htm.  In July and August 2002, Shanti Rao conducted a Web survey to enable respondents to rank the importance of each idea.  The results of his survey are available at http://xml.gov/presentations/raosoft/surveyresults.pdf.  In addition, they were discussed futher at the August 14, 2002, meeting of the Working Group.

Group

Idea

Priority

Rank

Governance

Establish full time roles/management for centralized activity to include XML

 

 

 

Create a sub-working group of Fed CIO XML WG to create draft policy

 

 

 

Develop XML seal of approval

 

 

 

Specify schema for info quality (including dissemination to the public)

 

 

 

Establish lead agency by area of expertise

 

 

 

Create set of standard implementation XML guidance

 

 

 

Determine right top-down and bottom-up approach

 

 

 

Provide OMB funding for XML work

 

 

 

Identify XML lead at each agency (all departments and bureaus)

 

 

 

Establish usable verbiage for inclusion in contracts for use of XML in development projects/activities

 

 

 

Explore institutionalized procedures for broad harmonize XML work; create requirements for data quality

 

 

 

Develop hierarchy for XML activities

 

 

Registry

Develop project plan for XML registry

 

 

 

Define procedures for XML registry

 

 

 

Establish registry for templates (cross-agency work)

 

 

 

Establish procedures for discovery; see G2C/use cases

 

 

 

Register 500 most popular data elements using ISO BSR

 

 

 

Develop business plan relative to management of registry in terms of ability to operate registry

 

 

 

Support Fed CIO XMLWG as a clearing house

 

 

 

Identify processes for tracking and sharing standards efforts

 

 

 

Define standard verbiage for XML registry IP constraints

 

 

 

Establish library of use cases

 

 

 

Demonstrate Fed XML registry interoperability with distributed implementation at other levels of government and private sector

 

 

Strategy

OMB working with Fed CIO and NIST- add the President’s Council and quad-council; enterprise architecture, business processes

 

 

 

Determine how XML WG can add value

 

 

 

Tie together agency and OMB strategies

 

 

 

Provide input to Draft Government-wide strategy for interoperability (include role of XML)

 

 

 

Renew charter of XML WG and include GAO recommendations as enhanced roles

 

 

 

Synergize with Canada and UK strategic activities

 

 

 

Create XML Schema for gov performance plans and reports

 

 

 

Leverage federal EDI standards into XML

 

 

 

Leverage existing Federal/agency data standards

 

 

 

Create strategy for gov wide adoption of XML

 

 

Survey

Conduct survey of state and local government

 

 

 

Review established work; incorporate commercial, government

 

 

 

Identify Best practices

 

 

 

Survey Federal agencies to identify current work/gap analysis

 

 

 

Survey horizontal and vertical to see where they meet and gap analysis

 

 

 

Create OMB budget call letter in overall XML work

 

 

 

Identify case studies with XML used to support business processes (beyond data exchange, to determine where XML could/should be used)

 

 

 

Review large-scale commercial implementations and international egov efforts (UK e-gov)

 

 

 

Survey Fed agency on XML policies

 

 

 

Market research on XML expertise from vendors

 

 

Outreach

Increase participation in XML.gov site

 

 

 

Link Federally funded research & development (FFRD) into XML activities (universities, et al)

 

 

 

Create an award for XML (Baldridge award)

 

 

 

Provide opportunity for gov employees to get XML training Identify existing resources for free Web based training (as well as other sources of info)

 

 

 

Market XML.gov outreach to agencies

 

 

 

Provide communication/outreach based on 4 e-gov initiatives

 

 

 

Participate with VCS bodies with on-line (e.g. Incits)

 

 

 

Agency pilots demo benefits of XML (future proofing info, multi channel dissemination, interoperability); include B2G and C2G

 

 

Interoperability

Develop a metadata standard for government

 

 

 

Establish procedures for interoperability across distributed content management systems

 

 

 

Incorporate XML into preservation of long-term Fed records

 

 

 

Select 5-10 agency areas for pilot interoperability

 

 

 

Establish Agency Enterprise Interoperability Service Layer (Business)

 

 

 

Develop central standards recommendations

 

 

 

Develop standard methodology, test procedures and group of test data

 

 

Architecture

Identify standards efforts that map to Federal architectural framework and ensure insertion of gov involvement

 

 

 

Sub-group to discuss security across agencies (include PKI, GSA policies, liaison for NIST)

 

 

 

Include business area analysis by function (across agencies)

 

 

 

Provide specific verbiage regarding XML for overall Architecture Framework Model

 

 

 

Recommendations to Architecture & Infrastructure Committee for immediate actions on XML (A-11 reporting)

 

 

E-gov

Suggest XML as one the 24 egov initiatives (formal e-gov project)

 

 

 

Establish XML representation of top levels of gov and their services

 

 

 

Build on E-gov work (including geospatial work)

 

 

 

Establish E-gov focus Gov2Citizen