FY1997-2000 Information Resources Management (IRM) Strategic Plan

Introduction


"If you don't know where you're going,
any road will take you there."

This strategic plan describes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service vision and priorities for long-term investments in managing information resources. This plan sets the direction. More detailed tactical and project plans provide the actual road maps. Comments should be sent to William T. Brooks, Chief, Division of IRM. [NOTE: This plan was approved in 1997. It has become slightly dated since then - for example, a Chief Information Officer has been designated for the Service, and the GPRA performance measures were defined differently.]

Introduction

General Goals

Objectives

  1. Make Service-Managed Data Readily Accessible...
  2. Enhance Data Communications Capabilities...
  3. Simplify Operations...

Mission

The Service's IRM mission is to promote conservation of fish and wildlife resources by providing reliable, up-to-date information (and the computerized tools to process it) to decisionmakers, and by facilitating public understanding and involvement.

Customers

Good decisions are based on reliable, up-to-date information as well as good judgement. Most decisions affecting fish and wildlife resources are made by private landowners, local government officials approving land use decisions, State fish and game managers, and non-government organizations with a conservation focus. These "external stakeholders" are our primary customers.

The same infrastructure designed to communicate resource management information is also used to handle administrative data. The Service is an organization with approximately 7,000 employees in nearly 400 separate locations. With automation spreading rapidly throughout the Service, almost every employee is a direct customer for information and communication services. Field station personnel are our target "internal" customers - if their needs are met for resource management and administrative tasks, then there is a high probability that other Service requirements will also be met.

Challenges and Opportunities

birdwatchers We must make our information easily available in order to clarify the Service's mission, the problems we face, and the decisions we make. Service personnel must be effective in using modern technology to access and analyze up-to-date information, before evaluating choices and making appropriate resource management decisions.

Our challenges for effective conservation and management of the Nation's fish and wildlife resources involve a limited budget, a relatively small work force, and increasing stresses on our trust resources. These challenges will spur the Service to become a better steward of information resources - particularly those that relate to habitat conservation, the management and compatible uses of our National Wildlife Refuges, and the protection and recovery of Threatened and Endangered Species.

General Guidance

The Service's IRM program is guided by Service priorities as well as by Congressional legislation and the policies of the executive branch. The Service's overall Strategic Plan will provide broad direction. The vision document of the Service's Assistant Director - Administration provides more direct priorities for the IRM program in the Service, as does the Chief, Division of IRM. (The Service has not formally designated a Chief Information Officer.)

Federal IRM goals and objectives are provided by legislation and oversight agencies. The Department of the Interior Office of Information Resources Management provides policy and a strategic direction. In addition, the National Performance Review has emphasized repeatedly the use of information technology, and the Congress has also been active in providing legislative direction on information access.

Resources

The Service spends approximately $30 million annually on IRM-related activities. This is roughly 6% of the Resource Management budget, and 2% of the Service's total appropriation.

The Service culture is to solve problems rather than to gamble on investments in computer technology that may - or may not - be helpful to on-the-ground operations. Almost all IRM-related resources are targeted towards basic office automation, telecommunications, and technical support for end users.

Existing staff resources at the national level will be focused on the strategic objectives through a Geographic Information System (GIS) strategic plan and a tactical plan for the Division of IRM. Funding initiatives will be proposed, but the Service is also prepared to delay lower-priority efforts in order to achieve the highest-priority objectives in this Strategic Plan. Currently, resource limitations are most evident in the efforts to upgrade field station computers, network additional offices, replace radios, establish data standards, and fill the "gaps" of automated data.

Evaluation

The investment in information resources management is intended to streamline administrative operations, assist the Service's management in making important decisions, and illustrate the reasoning behind those decisions. The most relevant Performance Measure under Goal 4.2 is that "Ninety-nine percent of installations have ready access to administrative information systems and online scientific data."


Go to second part of 1997-2000 IRM Strategic Plan: General Goals
Go to third part of 1997-2000 IRM Strategic Plan: Objectives

Keywords=IRM, strategic, planning, vision
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