==Data Types=={{TOC right}}Understanding the {{IMSMANG}} information model is a prerequisite for an information manager to adapt the system to their country specific mine action requirements. Some sections will include a list of requirements that can be used by information managers to define and document the information model for a programme.
==Data Types=Items=__NOEDITSECTION__===Core Data===__NOEDITSECTION__In the {{IMSMANG}} information model, items are the containers for core data, such as mine action data. An item is an area, activity or event that a programme records information about and stores in {{IMSMANG}}. There are six categories of items, which are described in the table below. Each category can be characterised by a type that reflects whether the item is designed to track process or activity information or the object or product of an activity.
In the IMSMA<sup>NG<{| class="wikitable"! Item! Description! Type|-| Land| Information about an area| Object/sup> information modelProduct|-| Activity| Information about an activity, such as efforts to survey, items are the containers for mine action information. An item is an areaclear, activity or event that reduce the threat of a mine action programme records information hazard| Process/Activity|-| Accident| Information about and stores in IMSMA<sup>NG<an accidental event| Object/sup>. There are six categories of items, which are described in the table below. Each category can be characterized Product|-| Victim| Information about a person injured or affected by an accident| Object/Product|-| Assistance| Information about assistance for a type that reflects whether the item is person injured or affected by an accident| Process/Activity|-| Education activity| Information about an activity designed to track process inform or educate people (e.g. Risk Education or Victim rights)| Process/Activity|-| Quality Management (QM) activity information or | Information about an quality-improvement activity, such as an effort to control and monitor the object clearance and/or product reduction of an activity.land or activities| Process/Activity|-|}
Items are entered into {{IMSMANG}} by means of a Data Entry Form. Typically, each category of items has its own Data Entry Form template for recording information specific to that category. When entered into {{IMSMANG}}, all Data Entry Form items must be assigned to a Location, which is tied to the country’s gazetteer, or political or administrative structure. The items can then be traced back to the Country Structure so that users can easily report data such as the number and size of hazardous areas within a particular province.
[[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model <center>{| class="wikitable"|+ ! Item! Category Examples|-| Land|* SHA* CHA* EOD Spot Task* Ammunition Storage|-| Activity|* Non- Items.pngTechnical survey* Technical survey* Clearance* Completion survey|center-|500pxAccident|''Items'']]<div align="center">* Demining accident* Mine accident''Items''|-|}</divcenter>Part of defining and documenting an information model includes defining the useful information attributes for each {{IMSMANG}} item. {{IMSMANG}} comes with more than 1,000 [[Data Dictionary| data fields already defined]] as well as the capability to create additional custom-defined fields (CDFs). This makes it important to critically assess which data fields are useful to a programme for decision-making, analysis and reporting and to focus on those while ignoring data fields that don’t provide additional value. Limiting information to only that which is useful to the programme provides long-term benefits including reducing the data collection and data entry burden and improving system performance. And, while many data fields may be collected for each {{IMSMANG}} item, some fields may be more important for analysis than others. For example, whether a victim has been injured or killed may be more important for analysis than the victim’s nationality.
Each of the items can be divided into categories or types so users can collect information for each category/type. For example, Land are normally divided into different categories/types and each category of land are managed differently. Using categories/types, information managers can:
Items are entered into IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> by means of a field report. Typically, * create separate workflows for each category /type of items has its own field report template for recording information specific to that Land* create and manage separate Data Entry Form templates per category. When entered into IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>, all field report items must be assigned to a location, which is tied to type* differentiate between item categories/types on the country’s gazetteer, or political or administrative structure. The items can then be traced back to the country structure so that users can easily report data such as the number and size of hazards within a particular province.map
Part of defining Additionally, information managers can customise the categories so that unused categories can be inactivated and documenting an other categories added. The same is true for all top-level items within {{IMSMANG}}, which lets information managers specify their exact information model includes defining , including the useful information attributes for each IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> relationships among item. IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> comes with more than 1categories,000 data elements already defined as well and adjust the model as their needs change over time. To accurately map the capability to create additional custom-defined fields (CDFs). This makes it important to critically assess which data elements are useful to information model for a programme for decision-makingMine Action Programme, analysis and reporting it’s helpful to evaluate the available item categories and determine if changes to focus on those while ignoring data elements that don’t provide additional valuethe information model in {{IMSMANG}} are required. Limiting information to only that which is useful to the programme provides long-term benefits including reducing the data collection and data entry burden and improving While these values can be customised after system performance. Andsetup, while many data elements may be collected understanding the types of information for each item is critical to implementing an effective workflow in {{IMSMANG item, some elements may be more important for analysis than others. For example, whether a victim has been injured or killed may be more important for analysis than the victim’s nationality}}.
{{note|<b>Document the following decisions about items:</b>
* data to be collected and managed in {{IMSMANG}}
* data fields that are not predefined in {{IMSMANG}} and should be created as CDFs
* particularly important, or key, data for the programme
* relevant categories/types for each item
* status values for each item
}}
[[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - Item SubcategoriesExample of Documented Land.png|center|500px|''Item Subcategories''300px]]
<div align="center">
''Item SubcategoriesExample of documentation''
</div>
===Auxiliary Data===__NOEDITSECTION__
In addition to defining the required information for {{IMSMANG}} items, it is important to define the relevant information to be collected about Auxiliary data. This includes defining and documenting the [[Standardising_Auxiliary_Data#Country_Structure|Country Structure]], [[Standardising_Auxiliary_Data#Ordnance Classification | Ordnance classification]], [[Standardising_Auxiliary_Data#Organisations |Organisation]] and [[Standardising_Auxiliary_Data#Places|Place]], such as military bases, hospitals and cultural sites; any additional CDFs that should be created; and any subcategories for each of the Auxiliary data types.
Each of the six categories of items can be divided into subcategories or types so users can collect information {{New_6.0 | In version 6.0 two classifications used for each subcategory. For example, users can specify different types of hazards such as dangerous areas, confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs)Victim; Cause and Needs assessment, minefields and battle areas and manage each kind of hazard differentlyAssistance classification used for Assistance have been added. All three are hierarchy tree-structures using levels. Using subcategories, information managers can:}}
* create separate workflows for each type of hazard* create and manage separate {{note|<b>Document the following decisions about Auxiliary data entry forms* differentiate between item categories on the map:</b>
Additionally, information managers can customise the subcategories so that unused subcategories can * data to be removed and other subcategories added. The same is true for all top-level items within IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>, which lets information managers specify their exact information model, including the relationships among item categories, collected and adjust the model as their needs change over time. To accurately map the information model for a programme, it’s helpful to evaluate the available item subcategories and determine if changes to the information model managed in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}}* data fields that are required. While these values not already configured in {{IMSMANG}} and can be customized after system setup, understanding the types of information created as CDFs* relevant subcategories for each item is critical to implementing an effective workflow in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>. Table 5 shows examples of the possible subcategories of IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> items.data type}}
[[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - Documenting ItemsExample of Documented Auxiliary Data ver2.png|center|500px|''Documenting Items''300px]]
<div align="center">
''Documenting ItemsExample of Documented Auxiliary Data''
</div>
==Data Entry Forms and Summary items==__NOEDITSECTION__
A '''Data Entry Form''' is a template used for data entry of information e.g. about a victim.
The Data Entry Form(s) for a specific object (e.g. the Victim ''Jane Doe'') are summarised and displayed in a '''Summary'''.
'''Reconciliation''' is the process of deciding if information should update an existing object or creating a new object/Summary.
===Auxiliary Or with other words, when a Data===Entry process is started the first decision is to choose which of the several different methods/actions for Data Entry to use.
In addition to defining With this approach, users can collect and store multiple Data Entry Forms about the same item over time so that the entire history of the required information for IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> items, it item is important preserved in the system. The approach also provides a complete [[Audit log | audit trail]] of all changes made to define the relevant any information so that information to be collected about auxiliary data. This includes defining and documenting managers can answer the country structurequestion, ordnance, organisations "What did we know and places, such as military bases, hospitals and cultural sites; any additional CDFs that should be created; and any subcategories for each of the auxiliary data types.when did we know it?"
As subsequent information is collected about a specific attribute of an item, {{IMSMANG}} updates the item’s Summary on an attribute-by-attribute basis. The calculation of the Summary is done based on '''Date of Information''' and therefore it is important that Date of information is reflecting the age of the information and not the date of entry into {{IMSMANG}}.
[[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model Understanding_IMSMA_Information_Model_- Documenting Auxiliary Data_Updating_CVs ver2.png|center|500px|''Documenting Auxiliary Data''400px]]
<div align="center">
''Documenting Auxiliary DataExample of Updating Summary items''
</div>
Data Entry Form #1 collects some initial information about a Land. It sets the priority to "Medium" and specifies that the land contains AP mines and is 25,000 sqm.
==Field Reports and Current Views== [[Image:Understanding_IMSMA_Information_Model_-_Field_Reports_and_Current_Views.png|right|300px|''Field Reports, Current Views, and Reconciliation'']] All mine action Data Entry Form #2 updates information is entered into IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> via a field report, about the land area after a data entry form used to collect information about an itemsubsequent assessment. When a field The report is completed, it is either reconciled sets the priority to an existing item (that is, it is determined to be information about an item that already exists in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>) or it is reconciled as new (that is"High" and specifies the presence of AP and AT mines, but it is determined to be information about an item that does not already exist in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>)change the size or the status of the land area.
With this approach, users can collect Data Entry Form #3 updates the land area's size and store multiple field reports about the same item over time so that the entire history of status after clearance operations are complete. The figure above shows how the item land area's Summary is preserved in updated after all three reports are entered into the system. The approach also provides a complete audit trail of all changes made to any mine action information so that information managers can answer the question, "What did we know and when did we know it?"
IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> also provides a constantly updated current view of the item which represents the sum of information about the item at any given time. As subsequent {{Warning| A Data Entry Form that is changing existing information is collected about must have a specific attribute Date of an item, IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> updates the item’s current view on an attribute-by-attribute basis. For example, Field Report #1 collects some initial information about a hazard. It sets the priority to "Medium" and specifies that the hazard contains AP mines and is 25,000 sqm. Field Report #2 updates information about later than the hazard after a subsequent assessment. The report sets the priority to "High" and specifies the presence of AP and AT mines, but Data Entry Form that it does not change the size or is updating the status calculation of the hazard. Field Report #3 updates the hazard’s size and status after clearance operations Summary item(s) are completebased on Date of Information. The figure below shows how When the hazard’s current view date is earlier or the '''same''', the Summary item will '''not''' be updated after all three reports are entered into the system.}}
figure===Location ===__NOEDITSECTION__A country's official administrative structure, also known as Gazetteer, should be the base for the Country Structure used in {{IMSMANG}}. Sometimes the official administrative structure has not been updated for a long time or it is not detailed enough using it for a geographical placeholder, worksite, for the Mine Action programme and that is why the item Location has been introduced in {{IMSMANG}}. Two fundamental decisions to make when customising {{IMSMANG}} is to decide what Country Structure level Locations will be consistently linked to and what concept Locations will represent. Typical concepts that a Location is used to represent include:
Current view calculations *a work area (where activities are based on taking place)*a community (a group of people affected by the date of mine/UXO/IED threat)*the nearest town (the field report, so it is possible town closest to enter data into where the system out of chronological order (that activity is, to collect past information about an itemtaking place) without disrupting the current view. For example, if a fourth field report were collected and dated between Field Report #1 and Field Report #2, it would have no effect on the current view as all information in the example was updated with Field Report #2 or later.
Using Locations, users can group data that belongs together or is associated with each other and in that way get a better overview, facilitate searching and creating reports. The Locations is the link between the Country Structure, whether at the province, district or town level and the Mine Action data. As shown in the figure below, data in {{IMSMANG}} are governed by two simple rules:
*all data must be assigned to a Location
*all Locations must be linked to the Country Structure
===Mapping the Workflows=== The first element of mapping the hazard reduction workflow is to build a map of the relationship between the objects and processes involved in the hazard reduction process. Starting with the first representation of the hazard, the workflow map should describe the processes done to the hazard and the output of the process. The workflow map should trace the entire process from hazard identification through clearance and release of the land according to the operational process in use in the programme. In the example below, a confirmed hazardous area (CHA) is linked to a technical survey that was conducted on the hazard. The survey resulted in a minefield on which a clearance was done, and the clearance resulted in a cleared hazard. Finally, a completion survey was logged to close the hazard. [[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - Using Locations to Link Mine Action Information Management - Mapping workflowData to the Country Structure.png|center|''Mapping the Workflow'']]
<div align="center">
''Mapping Using Locations to Link Mine Action Data to the WorkflowCountry Structure''
</div>
{{note|<b>Document the following decisions about Locations:</b>
* what concept Locations will represent
* what Country Structure level Locations will be linked to
}}
This workflow map identifies the hazard reduction process that is used within the programme and can be mapped in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> to track the clearance of hazards. Because IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> supports customisable workflows, it can be used to track different workflows for different objects. For example, a programme may have a separate abbreviated workflow for spot UXO tasks that involve only the identification of the UXO hazard (object) and a clearance of the hazard (process) without additional surveys or steps. This process should also be mapped for implementing in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>. ===Business Rules Updating Structure===Assigning and Linking====Status Changes====__NOEDITSECTION__Along with a workflow map that describes the relationship between the various types of objects and processes in a workflow, the status changes or outputs from the process are critical in adequately mapping the hazard clearance process. IMSMA<supb>NGAssigning</supb> uses refers to the status value assignment of items an item to track where a Location for the object or process is in its workflowpurposes of grouping information. Objects and processes in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> can have different status values. For example, hazards can All items must be defined as "Active", "Worked On," or "Closed," while hazard reduction activities that are more process-oriented can be "Planned," "Ongoing," "Completed," "Suspended," or "Abortedassigned a Location." Defining a set of status values for each item provides the capability to:
* manage workflows according <b>Linking</b> refers to status* search and report on items based on a particular status* display the association between items on for the map with different symbols based on their statuspurposes of analysis. Linking is optional, for example, when linking Activities to Accidents but linking is very important to do so effective reporting will be possible.
Some IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}} provides the capability to assign items to Locations and create links between items may have many status values. For example, process-oriented a function that shows the relationships between items such as hazard reductions and quality management likely have many status valuesprocesses and that enriches the data collected. Assignments and links are defined during the Data Entry Form approval process. An item is assigned to one Location, but hazards which ties the item to the country structure and allows for reporting data by area. The same item can then be linked to as many other object- or output-oriented items typically have only as necessary. In this way, {{IMSMANG}} supports the three status values listed above. Some items like idea of linking activities to land, victims and to accidents may not need status values depending on how or any item to any other item. When used with item categories, linking adds a powerful capacity to implement an information is usedworkflow and create rich and useful data for decision makers. Defining To ensure the possible status values for each object in the workflow as outputs integrity of this data, system administrators must clearly specify the processes conducted on them provides a set kinds of business rules for information management that govern how information should be entered and analysedlinks to track in {{IMSMANG}}.
====Example Workflows The example below shows how users can build a workflow of relationships among items to model the information management process for their Mine Action Programmes. The figure shows how the Summary changes with Status Changes====each activity that is linked to the original Land. # The Land starts its life-cycle as ''SHA'' with a status of Open in this example. # When the clearance starts and the first Progress report is linked to the Land, the status should be changed to ''Worked On''. # Finally, after linking the Completion Report the land's status should be updated to ''Closed''.
The following figures show how each programme result is one Land whose information is updated over time by the three Activities linked to the land. This way to track information can tailor be used to represent the system to support a specific hazard clearance/reduction workflow process for each type of hazard, from a traditional information management process and status rules accurately for minefield clearance with multiple steps including a technical surveyLand Release, clearance and completion survey to a simplified process for UXO clearance that includes only a clearance. Each example involves a single hazard on which one Risk management or more hazard reduction activities are conducted. At each step, information about the hazard’s status and type is updated as a result of the hazard reduction other processmodel.
In the figure below, a CHA is created and its status is set to "Active." A technical survey process is then conducted on the hazard which results in changing the subcategory of the hazard from "CHA" to "Minefield" and defining the hazard’s perimeter. Next, a clearance process is conducted on the minefield that results in updating the status of the hazard to "Worked On." Finally, a completion survey is submitted that updates the status of the hazard to "Closed." [[Image:Understanding Mine Action IMSMA Information Management Model - Example Workflowof How Current View Statuses Change.png|center|''Example of a Traditional Workflow''400px]]
<div align="center">
''Example of a Traditional WorkflowHow Summary Statuses Change''
</div>
The {{IMSMANG}} information model is flexible enough for each Mine Action Programme to customise the system to support its needs. For example, implementations that do not cover Education activities do not need to complete information about Education activities, and they still retain full utility of the system. Similarly, implementations that only cover Victim tracking and Education activities only can disregard Land and Activities without any loss of utility.
Simpler processes Although any item can be defined for linked to any other types of hazards. For exampleitem, a spot UXO task would likely not go through this complete workflow and instead start with a subcategory all relationships necessarily make sense for every implementation. The diagrams below describe some of "UXO" and a status of "Open." A clearance could then be conducted the more common logical relationships among items and can serve as the UXO spot status updated to "Closed," without requiring a completion surveybasis for an information model when implementing {{IMSMANG}}.
[[Image:Understanding Mine Action IMSMA Information Management Model - Example Workflow 2Relationships Among Items.png|center|''Example of a Spot UXO Workflow''550px]]
<div align="center">
''Example of a Spot UXO WorkflowNote: Connections to Country Structure and Location have been omitted from the example''
</div>
The rationale for each relationship or link should also be documented so the meaning is understood. These relationships are used when entering data to ensure that the links between items are available for searching and reporting, like when searching for all Land that have Accidents linked to them.
By documenting {{note|<b>Document the entire process conducted on each type of hazardfollowing business rules about assigning and linking:</b>* which items will have links between them, including the changes in status and type that result from the hazard reduction activitiesfor example, information managers create a complete map of the hazard/hazard reduction workflow that informs how linking and reconciliation decisions Victims should always be made and provide a guide linked to data entry personnel.Accidents ===Progress Reporting Structure=== Once * rationale or logical meaning of the hazard and hazard reduction relationships and workflow are defined and documented for each type of hazardbetween items, the next step is to define how progress data for the hazard clearance processes is collected. Traditionallyexample, incremental progress data is collected using progress reports. These reports are typically linked to the overall clearance operation and are used to collect the incremental progress for a reporting period, usually, the number of mines/UXO cleared, area cleared and hours worked. In IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>, each progress report is stored as link between a new hazard reduction activity Clearance and linked to an Accident means that the clearance. As a result, individual progress reports can be queried to determine how much progress was made Accident happened during a given reporting period. In additionthe Clearance* what effects linking has on the items, aggregate progress information can be queried for each clearance (for example, a link between a Clearance and Land may indicate that the total mines that have been reported cleared for a given clearance operation).land status should change from ''Open'' to ''Worked on''}}
An alternative approach to storing progress information is to collect incremental progress reports and reconcile them as updates to the clearance using the combine option during reconciliation. Using this method, progress reports do not create independent hazard reduction items; rather, their information is combined with, and added to, the clearance information collected to that point. This approach simplifies the reconciliation step for progress reports as well as provides a simple summary of clearance data on each hazard in the current view. It may, however, become slightly more complicated to determine progress during individual reporting periods. Information managers should assess which approach better meets the needs of their programs when selecting an approach to tracking progress. In the example below, progress reports were collected for three separate reporting periods during a clearance operation. Collecting and linking information in this way makes it easy to determine that in Period 2 (PR-2), 4,500 sqm were cleared and 25 AP mines were found and that, overall, 15,000 sqm were cleared and 61 AP mines were found. A defined, standardized approach to collecting and storing progress information simplifies querying and reporting of statistical information and is a critical element to supporting operational mine action information management needs. ===The Workbench===__NOEDITSECTION__[[Image:Understanding Mine Action Information Management - Progress Report WorkflowWB_Status.png|175px|center|''Progress Report Workflow'']]
<div align="center">
''Progress Report WorkflowApproval workflow / Data Entry Form Statuses''
</div>
The Workbench is a holding area / import inbox where Data Entry Forms are found until they are approved. There are four possible steps in the Approval process:
# [[Save Data Entry Forms| Save]]
# [[Submit Data Entry Forms | Submit]]
# [[Reject Data Entry Forms | Reject ]]
# [[Approve Data Entry Forms | Approve]]
For data quality purposes, it is important that the data is adequately checked. With multiple permission levels for the Approval, different users can be assigned different permissions, allowing Mine Action Programmes to implement a data-entry workflow that distinguishes between data '''entry''' and data '''verification''' roles.
==Reconciliation Process== ===Location Folder=== ===Assigning and Linking=== IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> provides the capability to assign items to locations and create links between items, Until a function that shows the relationships between items and processes and that enriches the data collected. Assignments and links are defined during the field report approval process. An item Data Entry Form is assigned to one locationapproved, which ties it exists only in the item to the country structure Workbench and allows for reporting mine action data by areadoes not update any Summary items. The same item report can then still be linked to as many other items as necessary. In this way, IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> supports the idea of linking hazard reductions to hazards, victims to accidents modified or any item to any other itemdeleted. When used with item subcategories, linking adds a powerful capacity to implement The Approval will trigger an information workflow and create rich and useful data for decision makers. To ensure the integrity update of this data, system administrators must clearly specify the kinds an existing item (Summary) or creating of links to track in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>. See [[Maintaining IMSMA]] for more on this topic. The example below shows how users can build a workflow of complex relationships among top-level items and new item subcategories to model the information management process for their programmes. figure The next figure shows how the current view changes with each hazard reduction that is linked to the original hazard. The CHA starts with a status depending of "Openchosen Action." When If the technical survey is linked to the hazardSummary item has geospatial data, it changes the hazard subcategory to "Minefield." Then, linking the clearance updates the hazard’s status to "Worked On." Finally, linking the completion survey changes the hazard’s status to "Closed." The result is one hazard whose information is updated over time by the four hazard reductions linked to the hazard. This way to track information can be used to represent the information management process and status rules accurately for a land release, risk management or other process model. figure The IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> information model is flexible enough for each programme to customise the system to support its needs. For example, programmes that do not conduct MRE activities do not need to complete information about MREs, and they still retain full utility of the system. Similarly, programmes that conduct victim tracking and MRE activities only can disregard hazards and hazard reductions without any loss of utility. This flexibility, however, requires that programmes define the relevant uses of each item. Although any item can be linked to any other item, not all relationships necessarily make sense for every programme. The diagrams below describe some of the more common logical relationships among items and can serve as the basis for an information model when implementing IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>. figure The rationale for each relationship or link should also be documented so the meaning is understood. For example, a hazard reduction may be conducted on a hazard and an accident may be a result of a hazard or produce a victim. These relationships are used when entering data to ensure that visible in the links between items are available for searching and reporting, like when searching for all hazards that have clearances linked to themMap Pane. figure ===Workbench=== ====Roles====
====Responsibilities===={{NavBox Information Management}}[[Category:NAA]]
