Methodology and Proof of Concept Development The methods used to address the research questions are outlined as follows: What is the nature of the expertise required for processing, issuing and enforcing water permits? Requirements drive system design, development and implementation. To generate system requirements that specify how the system should function and the tasks it should enable, a cognitive task analysis approach,, , guided our process of gathering requirements. The study team employed elements of this approach to better identify the cognitive elements that underlie goal generation, decision-making and judgments. In general, there were three key steps: i) knowledge elicitation, ii) analysis and iii) knowledge representation. The team reviewed the state of the existing system and actual workflows (not just the flowcharts documented on paper), identified gaps and proposed key areas where automation could make a difference. Interviews and focus group sessions were used to drive the data collection activities. Key documents reviewed included the NWRB’s permitting flowchart (Figure 4), the most recent permit application form, the Code and reports and forms related to the evaluation process. Key outputs from this step included a high-level process overview (Table 2 & Figure 5) and a summary of the key requirements for the new system (Figure 6). Figure 4. Flowchart of NWRB’s Permitting Process “As-Is” Table 2. Subject Matter Expert (SME) Goals and Tools for Permitting Permitting Steps SME Goals Tools Concepts Procedures Screening Help an applicant Screener uses Water rights, Receive permit, determine if his Google Earth restricted areas, check for restricted application is viable installation to check location, accept for restricted locations payment, send for Collect payment for endorsement, issue viable permits permit to drill Endorsement Allow the public to Mail used to send Protest, Send letter to 10 protest a new endorsements and community, agencies plus application receive feedback from local engineer to post endorsing agencies consultation notice of Obtain technical application for 30 feedback from days; letters of relevant local agencies endorsement sent
Methodology and Proof of Concept Development The methods used to address the research questions are outlined as follows: What is the nature of the expertise required for processing, issuing and enforcing water permits? Requirements drive system design, development and implementation. To generate system requirements that specify how the system should function and the tasks it should enable, a cognitive task analysis approach,, , guided our process of gathering requirements. The study team employed elements of this approach to better identify the cognitive elements that underlie goal generation, decision-making and judgments. In general, there were three key steps: i) knowledge elicitation, ii) analysis and iii) knowledge representation. The team reviewed the state of the existing system and actual workflows (not just the flowcharts documented on paper), identified gaps and proposed key areas where automation could make a difference. Interviews and focus group sessions were used to drive the data collection activities. Key documents reviewed included the NWRB’s permitting flowchart (Figure 4), the most recent permit application form, the Code and reports and forms related to the evaluation process. Key outputs from this step included a high-level process overview (Table 2 & Figure 5) and a summary of the key requirements for the new system (Figure 6). Figure 4. Flowchart of NWRB’s “As-Is” Permitting Process Table 2. Subject Matter Expert (SME) Goals and Tools for Permitting Permitting Steps SME Goals Tools Concepts Procedures Screening Help an applicant determine if his application is viable Collect payment for viable permits Screener uses Google Earth installation to check for restricted locations Water rights, restricted areas, Receive permit, check for restricted location, accept payment, send for endorsement, issue permit to drill Endorsement Allow the public to protest a new application Obtain technical feedback from relevant local agencies Mail used to send endorsements and receive feedback from endorsing agencies Protest, community, local consultation Send letter to 10 agencies plus engineer to post notice of application for 30 days; letters of endorsement sent
P154540-AAA-Finalize-Output.docx