quality assurance in data processing for census

Quality Managementin Data Processing for Census

Presented by : Mr. Dominic K T LEUNG Deputy Commissioner

Census and Statistics Department

20th September 2006

Hong Kong, China

2

Agenda

(A) Quality Management: Steer from Top

(B) Quality Assurance in System Development

(C) Data Quality Assurance in Data Processing

(D) End-user Participation – an Important Ingredient

(E) Hardware, Software and Service Acquisition – an Important Area

3

Quality Management: Steer from Top(Overview of Section A)

• What is Quality Management?• Why Need a Project Management Methodology?• PRINCE

– What is PRINCE?– Components of PRINCE

• Organization• Planning• Control

4

Quality Management: Steer from Top

• What is Quality Management?– The philosophy:

• mistake should be prevented rather than detected• fulfill the stakeholders’ expectations

– Quality Planning• proper project management structure• clear definitions of roles and responsibilities• determine what quality standards should be adopted• need to be set right at the beginning• end result is a Quality Plan

– Quality Assurance• planned and systematic quality activities to monitor the project• provide the confidence that the project will meet the standards

– Quality Check• measure specific project results to determine that the results match

the standards

5


• Why Need a Project Management Methodology?– To define the project organization– To reach consensus among all relevant parties about

• Why the project is needed?• What the project is intended to achieve?• How, where and when the parties are going to participate?

– To provide a framework for Quality Management– To overcome some common mistakes like

• Inadequate planning and co-ordination of resources, activities, and scheduling

• Poor communication among interested parties• Under-estimation of project costs and duration• Lack of control over progress • Lack of quality control

6


• What is PRINCE?– short for PRojects IN Controlled Environments– established in 1989 by CCTA (the Central Computer and

Telecommunications Agency) in UK, later renamed as the OGC (the Office of Government Commerce)

– structured method for effective project management – widely used in both public and private sectors– define the activities to be carried out for project organization,

planning, risk management and control– balance and optimize among Function, Time, Resource, Quality,

and Risk

7

Project Team


• Components of PRINCE: Organization– The organization usually composes of three

parts, namely the Project Steering Committee (PSC), the Project Assurance (PA) Group and the Project Manager (PM).

• PSC usually consists of Executive, Senior User and Senior Technical

• PA Group usually consists of Business Assurance Coordinator, User Assurance Coordinator and Technical Assurance Coordinator

• The PM, to whom all other team members report, is responsible for the timely production of all end-products to the agreed quality standards within the tolerances of time and cost set by the PSC

– The role and responsibilities of each member in the organization should be clearly defined in the Project Initiation Document

Project Assurance (PA) Group

Team Leader

Project Manager (PM)

Project Steering Committee (PSC)

SeniorUser

ExecutiveSenior

Technical

8


• Components of PRINCE: Planning– The concept of 'Staging' is recommended. A project should be

divided into stages to facilitate project management and control• It provides senior management the opportunities to assess the

project progress and business case at the stage boundaries. • It also enables more realistic estimates for each stage

– Product-based Planning is introduced. It encourages planning the products first and then the activities

• It ensures that the derived activities will directly contribute to the development of the products

• The project manager should plan on project level for Project Steering Committee to oversee the project and he / she should plan on detailed stage level for his / her day-to-day control

9


• Components of PRINCE: Control– Management by Exception – the principle

• During a project stage, the Project Steering Committee delegates the day-to-day project management responsibilities to the Project Manager with 'Tolerance'

• The Project Steering Committee exercises control on project only when there is Exception (has exceeded or is anticipated to exceed the tolerance)

– Quality Management: the elements• Inclusion of Quality Plan (detailing related guidelines/ standards,

quality criteria and quality checking method) devised at the project initiation

• Conduct of Quality Assurance Review at different stages to look for positive evidence that the product meets its specifications and quality criteria

10


• Components of PRINCE: Control– Control Meetings

• Project Steering Committee Meeting held by Project Steering Committee (event driven or time driven at project initiation, end-stages, project closure)

• Checkpoint Review held by Project Manager (regular and time driven)

– Management of Risk– Management of Configuration/Change

11

Agenda






12

Quality Assurance in System Development(Overview of Section B)

• Adoption of Standard Methodologies • SSADM in Practice• Major Quality Assurance Related Activities in SSADM• Formal Quality Review

13

Quality Assurance in System Development

• Adoption of Standard Methodologies– give clear specification of what is to be produced and how it is to be

managed and reviewed– visualize users' business objectives/activities and needs by continuously

involving users with standard modeling techniques– promote better quality management by detecting errors early in the

lifecycle, especially by involving users as well as skilled practitioners in checking for errors

– separate logical system specification and physical design to enable portability and re-use of application

– leverage useful automation tools for productivity gain– transfer expertise to practitioners including business and IT

managements and users

14


• SSADM in Practice– Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM) is

established in 1981 by CCTA (Central Computing and Telecommunications Agency) in UK

– covering the Feasibility Study Phase, System Analysis and Design Phase, Implementation Phase of the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

– an integrated set of standards and guides for the analysis and design of computer systems consisting of

• Structural standards, which define tasks explicitly, with clearly defined interfaces between them, and clearly defined tangible products

• Technique guides, which provide a set of proven techniques and tools, and detailed rules and guidelines on when and how to use them

• Documentation standards, which provide the means of recording the products of development activity at a detailed level

15


• Major Quality Assurance Related Activities in SSADM– Define existing environment, business system option, functional and

non-functional requirements (such as response time, capacity, security, contingency measures, etc), technical system option, logical design, and physical design, in both feasibility study and system analysis & design stages

– The deliverables will be produced and accepted through series of discussions between developers and end-users so as to ensure the end-product is what the business requires

– Specify various acceptance tests in implementation stage such as Unit Test, System Test, Integration Test, Load Test, User Acceptance Test, etc

16


• Formal Quality Assurance Review– In accordance with PRINCE, a quality plan will be prepared which

incorporates the quality checking mechanism, acceptance criteria, relevant guidelines & standards, and frequency of review

– Ensure that the deliverables are complete, accurate, adhering to specified guidelines & standards, properly documented, fully tested; and that all user requirements are fully satisfied

17

Agenda






18

Data Quality Assurance in Data Processing(Overview of Section C)

• Objectives of Data Quality• Data Quality Control in various Operation Stages

19

Data Quality Assurance in Data Processing

• Objectives of Data Quality– Utility via extensive user consultation (defining data topics) to

ensure that the information disseminated to the public shall be useful to its intended users

– Objectivity via both systematic and disproportionate sampling techniques, validation & imputation rules, suite of quality check mechanisms employed in data collection, capturing & processing steps, thorough system tests to ensure that the information is accurate, clear, complete, and unbiased manner

– Integrity via printed publication, softcopy media and well-protected dissemination system safeguarded from improper access, modification, or destruction

20

Data Quality Assurance in Data Processing

• Data Quality Control in various Operation Stages– Computer sub-systems are built with quality check features to

monitor and control the operation in the following stages• Data Collection Stage (enumerators)

• Data Capturing Stage (Intelligent Character Recognition/Optical Mark Recognition capturing service contractors)

• Data Coding Stage (computer-aided coding temporary staff)

• Data Editing Stage (data editing temporary staff)

21

Agenda






22

End-user Participation – an Important Ingredient (Overview of Section D)

• Management Structure• Feasibility Study and System Analysis & Design• System Implementation

23

End-user Participation – an Important Ingredient

• Management Structure– Clear understanding of roles and responsibilities– Delegation of authorities– Represent the user community– Committed to the project and own the project– Team building– Close communication among concerned parties– Positive to change arising from project implementation

24


• Feasibility Study and System Analysis & Design– Define realistic project schedule– Assist system developers to identify and understand current

environment– Explore business re-engineering possibility– Prepare user requirements– Provide feedback on the system design– Extensive discussions/workshops between users and

developers– Build prototype where necessary– Review deliverables to ascertain the final product is what the

business needs

25


• System Implementation– Prepare system test plan– Prepare system test cases and data– Conduct various system acceptance tests– Prepare various documentation and guidelines– Arrange training– Perform data migration

26

Agenda






27

Hardware, Software and Service Acquisition – an Important Area

(Overview of Section E)

• Alternatives in Product/Service Acquisition• Considerations in Specifying User Requirements• Challenges in Managing Outsourcing

28


• Alternatives in Product/Service Acquisition– Outsourcing, Package Solution or Custom-built Application

• Allow focus on core services

• Increase the flexibility in service delivery

• Improve service quality and output

• Cost consideration

• Make up for staff shortage

• Risk diversification

• Unavailability of required services in-house

• Access to information, technology, skills & expertise

• Challenges in managing outsourcing

29


• Considerations in Specifying User Requirements– User-friendliness– Training requirements– Data migration effort– Inter-operability – Open standard– Occupation Safety– Environment friendly – Infrastructure constraint

– Maturity of product– Product life cycle– Local technical support– Re-usability– Scalability– Capacity limit– Financial implication

30


• Challenges in Managing Outsourcing– Project Management– Performance Management– Risk Management– Change Management– Expectation/ Service Level Agreements– Project Ownership and Accountability– Communication– Skill Transfer– In-house Pressure– Selection of Right Service Provider

31

Thank you

quality assurance in data processing for census

Business

project organization

project management methodology

effective project management

project stage

project progress

project level

tolerance quality management

agenda quality management