National Underground Asset Register alpha reassessment
Service Standard reassessment report National Underground Asset Register 06/07/2022
Service Standard reassessment report
National Underground Asset Register
| From: | Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) |
| Assessment date: | 06/07/2022 |
| Stage: | Alpha |
| Result: | Met |
| Service provider: | Geospatial Commission |
Previous assessment reports
- [Alpha assessment report]
Service description
The Geospatial Commission is building a digital map of underground pipes and cables that will revolutionise the way we install, maintain, operate and repair our buried infrastructure - the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR).
NUAR will improve the efficiency and safety of underground works by creating a secure, auditable, trusted and sustainable platform. It will provide a consistent, interactive digital map of buried asset data, accessible when, where and how it is needed by those planning and executing excavations on behalf of underground asset owners. It will also lead to enhanced communication between parties and improve data quality.
Service users
The service is not open to the general public. It will be used by a range of different stakeholders as follows:
- Data seekers - people who need to view and interrogate asset information to plan and execute works (e.g. site operatives and planners / designers)
- Records Managers - those who need to make asset information available to seekers as well as receiving information about as-built records and site observations from operatives to keep records up to date
- PMO - managers and additional functions with utility organisations who control their suppliers and any additional requirements (e.g. admin, plant protection officers etc.)
- Fringe users - small user groups who require access to the data for a range of legal, security and safety reasons (e.g. land owners, surveyors, emergency services, HSE, Security officers.
2. Solve a whole problem for users
Decision
The service met point 2 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team have built up a clear understanding of the user base and as well as the digital service are aware of low digital literacy in one of the target user groups and has done more work to understand how users on work sites will access maps, including the use of PDFs downloaded for use offline, printed maps as well as the online digital service
- the team has identified the areas which are their riskiest assumptions, and are working with external groups to ensure they both meet and help shape best practice in this emerging area of geospatial data presentation. This includes scoring and prioritising risks, and demonstrating flexibility to pivot on previous decisions to reflect user needs
- a lot of research has been completed to identify the needs of asset owners including the user journey for data upload and management and allow actions to be taken based on these insights, which has surfaced further opportunities to develop the service in response to users’ needs
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- build their offer to users with low digital literacy, and ensure that the offline offer of downloadable interactive pdf documents is the right course of action, and that these documents are adequately accessible. Research and test the offline approach interactive-PDFs and printable PDFs with end users (those on work sites)
- test the features that are new to the industry (such as observations and feedback) without over-committing to development
- understand if the use of a COTS system for data upload is the right approach and explore a plan to prevent supplier lock-in. Identify any blockers in the data supply and resupply process delivered by Data Gateway, which is key to the service allowing users to benefit from a more joined-up view of existing data. Confirm the extent to which the data supply and resupply journey delivered by Data Gateway (which is self-contained within an existing commercial service) is accessible to all users
- research the data upload journey with end users who will be responsible for doing this. Their research so far has found a positive reception from consumers of the data but we have not seen research relating to records managers responsible for providing it. Although users and providers of the data are often in the same organisation they appear to be separate user groups.
3. Provide a joined-up experience across all channels
Decision
The service met point 3 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team have researched the alternative routes an offsite worker may need to take whilst on site.
- the team has researched the need for different channels and established that offline plans are a high priority for their users. They have designed a print and PDF solution with consideration for how plans will be used on site.
- the team confirmed the opening hours of the help channel and provided confirmation of interactive support, 1st line email and telephone support from 08:00-18:00 on working days, a recommendation of offline support and the existing BAU process as a contingency plan
- the team identified the need to agree a service level agreement for how to prioritise support requests
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- explore the needs outside the contracted 8-6 Monday-to-Friday offline helpdesk service and procure a service based on User Needs (including escalation levels and SLAs) and establish how support will be provided and support levels maintained after the supplier contract ends
- research when and how the teams in the planning offices or the users in the ground will know to revert to their BAU processes (and their offline journey)
- research, map and develop an alternative route for using the data upload service if it does not meet accessibility needs.
- assess how NUAR would be used against industry standard safe working practices (which may be referred to in emergency call outs and where other lines of support are not available) and whether there are any risks are associated with this approach which require mitigation
4. Make the service simple to use
Decision
The service met point 4 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has made good use of elements of the GOV.UK Design System and has engaged with the design community to review work
- where patterns were not available (for example around mapping and presenting geospatial data) they have contributed to the community by sharing their work and taking part in working groups
- the team has a content roadmap and plans to recruit a content designer to implement it
- the team has carried out user satisfaction surveys and used them to plan improvements to the service (including an offline option) and they presented metrics regarding initial user reception to the proposed designs and service, including quotes from 12 research participants/companies and satisfaction metrics (although the total number of users worked with is not documented)
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- engage a content designer so they can implement their strategy and bring the content of the service into line with service standards
- show how the service has changed in response to user research
- carry out research to explore the usability and design of the data upload process
- rename the service according to the Service Manual guidance.
5. Make sure everyone can use the service
Decision
The service met point 5 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has used a specialist accessibility consultant to help them plan for improving accessibility, is carrying out accessibility audits as part of their design and build process and has a plan to introduce measures to improve the service’s accessibility
- the team is working with cartographers to make the map element as accessible as possible, and has identified changes as a result of this including offline charts and print output from PDFs have been designed to be usable without colour
- internal training on accessibility has been planned, to raise awareness within the team on how they can make their work and the help service more accessible and inclusive
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue their research and accessibility testing of the offline parts of the journey
- better understand the accessibility of the data upload element of the service. Currently the team is reliant on supplier guarantees which are to a different standard. The team must either demonstrate that this part of the journey meets WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, or show how it would work for users who are unable to use the supplied solution.
- implement the measures identified to ensure the service meets accessibility requirements
- provide good alternatives to the use of colour on offline assets such as pdfs and printed maps
6. Have a multidisciplinary team
Decision
The service met point 6 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team is focussing on Knowledge Transfer between the Civil Servants and the contractors/consultants, focussing on Wiki’s and Knowledge Libraries to cover all parts of the service and that the team has developed a ‘brains trust’ to develop the Geospatial Commission’s knowledge of the project, as well as working with the Map Design Steering Group, and their counterparts in the Netherlands and Scotland to share knowledge on emerging best practice
- the team has realigned the team roles to fit the Service normal roles and presented a plan for the shape of the team in beta, which included a content strategist, accessibility consultant, performance analyst and UR team
- the team provided examples of designers, developers and researchers working collaboratively to identify technical and design opportunities and constraints
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- plan and implement a long-term staffing plan to ensure long-term delivery of the service that allows continued iteration beyond the initial contract, consisting of a sustainable multidisciplinary team
- recruit a Content Designer as a priority to ensure that content can be tested alongside other parts of the service. If continued difficulty with long term recruitment, short-term hiring through GDS Expert Services should be considered
12. Make new source code open
Decision
The service met point 12 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team have a plan to develop a strategy to open the source code and publish it in public repositories on GitHub
- the team has shortlisted a subset of components which can be safely published and will seek approval from the business stakeholders and the Security Oversight Group (SOG) to make the source code open
- the team has considered what licensing they may use with the published code
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- publish source code in public repositories along with documentation and licensing for components approved by the SOG
- have a mechanism to synchronise the source code stored in public repositories on GitHub and the version control service used during the development process
- consider how the open-source community can contribute to the published code, raise issues and report bugs
13. Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns
Decision
The service met point 13 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has made good use of the GOV.UK Design System, integrating it into their work process and engaging with the design community to review work
- where patterns were not available (for example around mapping and presenting geospatial data) they have contributed to the community by sharing their work and working in the open with other government organisations
- the team uses open standards, software and data definition models relevant to the Geospatial sector (e.g WFS from Open Geospatial Consortium, MUDDI, GeoServer, PostGIS) and is collaborating with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) on the development of a standard model for underground utility and environment information
- the team has explored the usability of the GOV.UK Notify service to deliver codes for two-factor authentication (2FA)
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue working with the GOV.UK Design System and sharing their work in the open
- the team should continue their engagement and contribution to the mapping solutions community and OGC so the future standards can be agreed
- the team should complete the discovery of 2FA integration with GOV.UK Notify service. If the Notify service cannot be used, the team should share learnings and findings with the Notify team so they can work on future improvements
Updates to this page
Published 25 January 2024