U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Process for Establishing Data Standards

1. The need for a particular standard is identified by someone from within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

2. The need is communicated to the National Data Administrator in the Division of Information Resources and Technology Management.

3. The National Data Administrator locates the individual in the Service whose role and responsibilities qualify that individual to serve as the Data Steward for the standard.

4. The prospective Data Steward's Management issues a memorandum to the Chief, Division of Information Resources and Technology Management and Chief Technology Officer. This memorandum identifies the individual as the Data Steward and specifies the Data Steward's duties.

   Milestone: If a Data Steward cannot be found, and empowered, the process for establishing the proposed standard will terminate.

5. The data standard is drafted by the individual who first identified the need, by the National Data Administrator, or preferably by the Data Steward. The standard is published on the World Wide Web.

   Milestone: The data standard is now a "Draft."

6. The Data Steward reviews, modifies, and approves the draft data standard. The revised standard is published on the World Wide Web.

   Milestone: The standard is now a "Working Draft" and constitutes the best information available on the subject standard. Service personnel should strongly consider using the standard even though it is not yet "Adopted."

7. The Assistant Director-Information Resources and Technology Management and Chief Information Officer (CIO) distributes the "Working Draft" to the Service Directorate with a request to send comments to the Data Steward within a defined period of time. This review may also be accomplished by the review process for Service Manual chapters.

   Milestone: The standard is now "In Review." Service personnel should strongly consider using the standard even though it is not yet "Adopted."

8. The Data Steward reviews all comments and modifies the standard as necessary. The Data Steward may have to communicate with individuals who commented on the standard during this process.
9. The Assistant Director-Information Resources and Technology Management and CIO issues a memorandum to the Service Directorate announcing the adoption of the data standard.

   Milestone: The standard is now "Adopted." Service personnel must use the standard according to its instructions.

10. The Data Steward reviews the data standard periodically to ensure its continued utility and accuracy. If no changes are warranted, the Validation Date of the standard is updated.

11. If the Data Steward concludes that the standard must be substantially modified, the adopted data standard is revised and the Assistant Director-Information Resources and Technology Management and CIO will redistribute the standard to the Service Directorate for review.

12. If the Data Steward concludes that the data standard is no longer appropriate for Service-wide use, the Assistant Director-Business Management and Operations will issue a memorandum to that effect.

13. If the data standard is superseded by a Department of the Interior policy, standard, or directive, the National Data Administrator notifies the Data Steward, removes the standard from the official Data Standards web site on the World Wide Web, and provides the appropriate reference or access to the Departmental policy, standard, or directive that supersedes the Service data standard. 

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These pages are maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Information Resources and Technology Management. Please feel free to contact Andrey Andreyev with any questions and comments.

Keywords=fish, wildlife, animals, birds, data, standards, definitions, terms
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