 Environmental protection agencies are collaborating through E-Enterprise to guide the modernization of the compliance and enforcement data system that underpins many of the nation’s regulatory programs for air and water. As the EPA Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS) approaches the end of its lifecycle, new technologies and program requirements demand a modernized approach to collecting, managing, and sharing compliance and enforcement data.
EPA aims to develop a modernized system that will lower operating costs and support forthcoming electronic reporting requirements. The agency is also prioritizing modular development and shared services to reduce agencies’ information technology investments and maximize the system’s adaptability. The modernization presents an opportunity to take a fresh look at current workflows and build a flexible and efficient system that can respond to future business needs.
Adopting a collaborative model that is guiding the rebuild of the Safe Drinking Water Information System, environmental agencies have created an ICIS Modernization Board. The board will facilitate joint planning, input, and communication among stakeholders in a modernized compliance and enforcement data system. It includes members from EPA and state and local agencies that bring a diverse range of expertise from air, water, and information technology programs.
Consistent with the E-Enterprise Digital Strategy, the board will help ensure an inclusive approach that is driven by customer business needs. The members will help plan and coordinate input to a Concept of Operations (ConOps) that will describe the desired future characteristics of the system for the programs that will use it. Further, the board will ensure that the ConOps defines a vision and purpose of a modernized system; documents desired high-level workflows; captures the core business needs of affected state, federal, and local media and regulatory support programs; and provides next steps for a following modernization phase.
After its kickoff meeting in May, the board began gathering stakeholder input on the ConOps in June. EPA plans to publish a first draft of the ConOps by the end of December.
For more information on ICIS modernization, please contact the Board’s co-chairs, Jane Wallace of EPA or Andy Putnam of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. |
