Implementing Transportation Knowledge Networks –

Speak Points for AASHTO SCOH, May 5, 2008

The Need for Organized Information

  1. We all know how hard it is to sort through the tsunami of information competing for our attention every day, to get to the nuggets that help us make the best decisions for our states; or, to get key information that seems to never be available, either to us or to our working level folks.
  2. Despite the seemingly endless amount of information, we’re still only seeing a fraction of what’s available. Based on studies, only 16% of the information on the web is reachable. We need better access to more information andwe need what we find to be relevant.
  3. SCOH previously funded a scoping study to look at the challenge of managing transportation information. A TRB policy study followed and recommended the development of a Transportation Knowledge Network.
  4. A NCHRP(20-75) project has developed a business plan for implementing the Transportation Knowledge Network, including products and services tobe offered at the national and regional levels to improve information sharing among transportation practitioners.
  5. The plan builds on activities that are already ongoing within AASHTO, TRB, FHWA and the transportation library community, and follows knowledge management principles that have been widely implemented in the private sector (Boeing, 3M, IBM, Ernst & Young)
  6. The project is currently in an outreach phase and is scheduled to be completed next fall.

AASHTO SCOH is a stakeholder

  1. The kinds of improvements this project is concerned with could help us every day – to make sure our employees and contractors are well informed about what is going on, and not spending too much of their time trying to track down information.
  2. Our input is being sought – as this project is being described, please think about how it could help your agency so that we can get some constructive suggestions back to the project teamto help them fine-tune the business plan and develop effective communication and outreach tools.
  3. This effort is particularly important given the changes we are all seeing in our workforces - we are losing our seasoned engineers and managers. In 5-10 years from now, we will have a new, younger workforce that will need a base of knowledge to draw upon. This new “born digital” group will also bring a whole new set of expectations about online information resources.

Feedback Requested

The project team is looking for input from the highway community so that we can get something that really saves us time and adds value. I am circulating an email with a link to the prototype of the information portal and a short survey. Please take a moment to complete the survey at your earliest convenience.

Authorization Request

SCOR has approved a recommendation to provide funding to support the development and implementation of Transportation Knowledge Networks under the direction of the National Transportation Library. The funding includes seed grants to state DOTs to enter their information resources into the national portal. The request is for $13.5 million per year, which is less than 5% of what is spent on this in the medical field.
Additional Information

Business Plan for Implementing Transportation Knowledge Networks

Based on feedback from an initial web survey about the need for “one stop shopping” for transportation information, the centerpiece of the plan is to develop an information portal that would be operated by the National Transportation Library, and fed with material from organized federal and regional networks of information providers (TRB, AASHTO, FHWA, state DOT transportation libraries, LTAP centers, UTCs, data clearinghouses, public affairs offices, etc.).

  1. It will have search tools that draw upon multiple information sources distributed across the country and it will include a variety of information types including statistics, GIS datasets, training materials, photographs, contact information, events, etc.
  2. It won’t duplicate what is already out there – it will just steer people in the right direction based on their needs.
  3. Any DOT could also tap into the information pool to feed its own intra or internet sites.
  4. The recommended budget for this initiative is $13.5 million annually, which is less than 5% of what is spent on this in the medical field. More than half of this is for collecting and organizing the content that will be available via the website – and that each of our organizations can also separately tap into. The rest is for setting up and maintaining the technology and standards, and making sure people know how to use it.

Follows Models from Other Fields

This project is a follow-on to prior initiatives that looked at models for information sharing in other fields (particularly medicine and agriculture), and the possibility of adapting these for transportation. These past studies concluded that transportation lags far behind in making information resources easily accessible – transportation needs a better “information infrastructure” – that includes people, processes and technology, working together.

Current Example from Medicine

The National Library of Medicine maintains two user interfaces: PubMed for the professional and MedLinePlus for the lay person.

Let’s say I’m considering lasik eye surgery. I can go to Medline Plus, type “lasik eye surgery” into a search block and get a page that has authoritative information on:

  • what it is,
  • a summary of the latest research
  • a survey of what it costs in different parts of the country
  • a list of current clinical trials
  • even a step by step tutorial with pictures of each step of the surgery.

I don’t have to worry about sifting through pages and pages of hits on this from a “Google” search – many of which are commercial in nature or of dubious validity.

If I am a health professional looking for the latest information, I type it into PubMed and get a search return of over 3000 scientific publications that I can further refine.

Future Examples for Transportation

Now lets say that this portal was implemented in transportation – here are some examples that illustrate how it might be used:

  1. The CEO wants information on gas taxes around the country. She searches the transportation portal and is provided a search return including:
  • Current gas taxes by state

She is asked if she would also like:

  • What the gas tax is used for
  • Other sources of revenue for transportation
  • International information
  • Revenue sources by mode
  1. A legislative staffer is interested in congestion management activities. They search the public portal for information and are provided a search return that includes:
  • Causes of traffic congestion
  • Current information on traffic congestion and it’s impacts across the country
  • Current programs and activities to manage congestion
  1. An operations program manager is asked to develop recommendations for better incident response following a winter storm in which traffic is backed up for hours. This manager would be able to go to a single spot and find current and relevant materials - for example, the consultant report that was done for PennDOT last year following their Valentine’s Day storm, with an analysis of what went wrong and a recommended action plan.
  2. A line manager is asked to develop an RFP for a new fleet maintenance system. He wants to get some background information about products on the market, requirements and experiences of peer agencies. This manager would be able to quickly see a listing of the products in use within DOTs and large counties, obtain sample RFPs, and get contact names and phone numbers for the right people to talk to – in short order.

The Value of a Transportation Knowledge Network

  1. Fundamentally this project’s goal is to foster a more efficient and well-informed workforce but it can also help our partners and the public.
  2. Given the current set of challenges that we all face – if one of us figures out a way to get better results we need to be able to share this information easily. If one of us develops a good guidance document, then we should be able to easily make it available to our peers so they don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
  3. There are so many sources of information out there – TRB, FHWA, AASHTO, ASCE, other professional associations, UTCs etc. – but when we have a need for information, it is tough to know where to look first. We need a better way to quickly get our hands on information that can save us time and provide efficiency benefits.
  4. This effort is particularly important given the changes we are all seeing in our workforces - we are losing our seasoned engineers and managers. In 5-10 years from now, we will have a new, younger workforce that will need a base of knowledge to draw upon. This new “born digital” group will also bring a whole new set of expectations about online information resources.
  5. We are also relying more on consultants and outsourcing. We need to get better at organizing and providing access to information that can help new staff and consultants to hit the ground running.
  6. Having a better national infrastructure for information sharing could be very helpful for this and eliminate the need for us each to invent and pay for our own systems for this, and to pay for consultants to gather the same information over and over again.
  7. Many of us have implemented information sharing or knowledge management programs in our own agencies – through web sites, document management systems, or communities of practice. This initiative will support our own internal efforts – allowing us to tap into information and knowledge from our peers.