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wide technology architecture for TWC operations and the accompanying enterprise-wide
technology support processes.
Recommendation: Given the importance of technology, particularly IT, in the overall
process of detecting and warning, and the rapid evolution of IT, NOAA/NWS should
provide the TWCs with stronger IT commitment and leadership, and greater resources for
software and hardware personnel, planning, development, operations, maintenance, and
continuous process and product improvement.
Recommendation: IT staff should be provided to the TWCs so that IT hardware
and software design, development, and maintenance are not a collateral duty of a
watchstanding scientist, as is the case presently. An external IT Advisory Board, with
membership from the USGS, other seismic network operators, human factors, information
technology, and other large-scale, safety-critical systems professionals should be
established to advise the TWCs. The Board should meet on at least an annual basis and
provide TWC management and operational personnel with guidance and expertise in
building, developing, maintaining, and nurturing a highly effective, large-scale distributed,
tsunami warning system.
Six elements are critical to the enterprise-wide planning effort: highly effective leadership;
a common set of functional, operational, and organizational processes; adherence to interna-
tional standards; assessment processes that lead to continuous improvement; effective and
compelling communication; and adequate and consistent funding to ensure that the pro-
cesses, people, organizational structures, and policies effectively support the tsunami mission.
Speciically, the committee recommends the following improvements:
Senior IT leadership to guide the organization and ensure that the TWC technology archi-
tecture supports TWC operational requirements for reliability and sustainability;
A common set of functional, operational and organizational processes, including
o Articulated technology development, procurement, deployment, maintenance, sup-
port, security, and coniguration management processes ;
o Planning processes that are compliant with software engineering and computer
science standard processes and lessons learned from other large-scale, mission-
critical systems, and which are effectively carried out by TWC IT management and
staff personnel, IT support personnel, in regular consultation with TWC customers
and emergency management personnel;
o An enterprise-wide IT requirements development process that transparently identi-
ies all TWC requirements with a single planning process and a single enterprise-
wide IT architecture; and
o IT development, deployment, maintenance, support, quality assurance, security, and
coniguration management processes that are adequately planned and budgeted,
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