Technical Assistance Subgroup Charter

PURPOSE

The Transportation Subcommittee Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) Technical Assistance Subgroup will be the lead steward in identifying and prioritizing the technical assistance needs of WZDx data producers and users, and sharing best practices to assist in WZDx adoption. This subgroup is open to all Work Zone Data Working Group (WZDWG) members.

AUTHORITIES

The Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) Technical Assistance Subgroup is chartered under the Work Zone Data Working Group (WZDWG), which itself is chartered under the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Transportation Subcommittee.

SCOPE

The WZDx Technical Assistance Subgroup is accountable to and provides recommendations to the WZDWG, which provides leadership and direction in the use and development of the WZDx Specification. This subgroup’s focus is on helping WZDWG members (data producers and users) identify their implementation pain points, and share best practices for addressing those pain points, to lower the barriers to WZDx adoption. The Subgroup will prioritize scalable technical assistance activities and resources that benefit the broader WZDWG membership.

The scope of the Subgroup includes:

1. Facilitate Institutional Buy-In

• Collect feedback from WZDWG members on what has been helpful to gain institutional buy-in and determine what additional materials could be useful.
• Develop a document (e.g., one-pager, PowerPoint, webpage, video, etc.) which describes the impact and importance of WZDx to allow organizations to gain leadership buy-in.

2. Support Technical Implementation of the WZDx Specification

• Identify challenge areas such as data collection, translation, or aggregation that could benefit from the development of a tool. Work with the community to develop and share such a tool.
• Evaluate different mechanisms for sharing WZDx data (e.g., clearinghouse or registry) and make suggestions to the larger WZDWG.

3. Support Grant Awardees

• Host meetings for active WZDx adopters, including the cohort of grant awardees, to maximize knowledge sharing and identify challenge areas.

4. Cultivate Shared Understanding 

• Work collaboratively with the Specification Update Subgroup to identify and develop business rules for publication with specification updates.
• Identify, document, and justify any variations between WZDx and other similar standardization efforts (TMDD, V2X, SAE J2945/4).
• Coordinate efforts with the Smart Work Zone Devices Subgroup, which is considering developing V2X standards.

ACTIVITIES AND MILESTONES

Activity / Milestone (Expected Date)

Create a Document to Facilitate Institutional Buy-In

(June 2021)

• The subgroup has received significant feedback on the need for a document to assist with institutional buy-in. The document could include process diagrams, descriptions of use-cases, and expected benefits from implementing the specification.

Support Early Adopters

(June 2021 and ongoing)

• Host a series of meetings for active WZDx adopters, including the cohort of grant awardees, to share resources, facilitate knowledge sharing, and identify challenge areas.

Tool Development

(August 2021)

• Identify challenge areas such as data collection, translation, or aggregation that could benefit from a tool. Work with the community to develop such a tool.

Business Rules

(September 2021)

• Work collaboratively with the Specification Update Subgroup to identify and develop business rules for publication alongside specification updates.

Monitor Adjacent Standards Activities

(Ongoing)

• Identify and monitor specifications that overlap with WZDx activities to facilitate cohesive development.  

CO-CHAIRS

The WZDx Technical Assistance Subgroup co-chairs shall be from organizations which are active in the development and application of policies related to the creation, publication, consumption, mapping, and analysis of data relevant to the mission of the WZDWG. The subgroup should have a minimum of two (2) and maximum of four (4) co-chairs that represent both data producers and users.

PROCEDURES

1. Subgroup meetings shall be held at the request of the subgroup co-chairs and conducted as needed to meet subgroup objectives. The tentative meeting dates are posted above.
2. Meetings will be held in-person or virtually.
3. Agenda items will be coordinated with other subgroup members and will be available at least five days in advance of proposed meeting dates.
4. This subgroup charter shall be reviewed and updated as deemed necessary by subgroup leadership.
5. Issues that need to be resolved will be relayed promptly to the WZDWG chair and/or co-chairs for schedule and resolution.
6. The subgroup may establish additional rules and procedures for conducting business.

COORDINATION RESPONSIBILITIES

The subgroup will employ the tools best suited to meet its responsibilities, e.g., the use of teleconferences, GitHub, and web meetings. Subgroup co-chairs will coordinate working group activities with other WZDx subgroups, the larger WZDWG, the FGDC Coordination Group, and other appropriate parties that are necessary to accomplish key activities, effectively growing the geospatial community.

REPORTS

The subgroup shall develop an annual summary of accomplishments and planned activities which shall be presented to the WZDWG Chair.

The WZDWG Chair may request that the subgroup prepare special reports, white papers, technical papers, briefings and the like to address pertinent issues, crosscutting activities, and/or urgent matters consistent with larger FGDC community needs. These requests may come from one or several FGDC offices - the Office of the Secretariat, Coordination Group, or Member Agencies. The Work Zone Data v3 Specification Update Subgroup, through the WZDWG Chair, will submit content for the FGDC Annual Report each year, as requested by the FGDC Secretariat.

The subgroup shall publish information about its activities on the WZDx GitHub wiki page (https://github.com/usdot-jpo-ode/jpo-wzdx/wiki). References may need to be established between independent sites and the FGDC Transportation Subcommittee site.

APPROVALS

This charter will remain in effect for a maximum of twelve (12) months, or until amended, replaced, or terminated by the WZDWG Chair, the Transportation Subcommittee Chair, the FGDC Steering Committee, or the FGDC Coordination Group.

This charter shall be posted on the GeoPlatform Communities web site at https://communities.geoplatform.gov/ngda-transportation/work-zone-data-working-group/ as well as the Work Zone Data Exchange GitHub wiki page (https://github.com/usdot-jpo-ode/jpo-wzdx/wiki).