Directive #4, Guide to Completing a Standards Proposal

Submit proposals to:

Chair, FGDC Standards Working Group
FGDC Secretariat
590 National Center
Reston, VA 20192

The FGDC Standards Working Group will review all proposals to determine their usefulness, timeliness, feasibility of development. Amendments to approved proposals may be submitted at any time during the standards development process.

Proposals shall contain the following information in the following order:

Project Title - Identify the standard being proposed. The title of the standard should be descriptive of the standards project.

Date of Proposal Include the date of submission of the proposal.

Type of Standard Proposed Indicate what type of geospatial data standard is being proposed, as defined in the FGDC Standards Reference Model.

Submitting Organization Include name of the organization advancing the proposal. This organization does not need to be the same as the development group that will produce the standard.

Point of Contact Name of a person who can be contacted for questions or additional information related to the proposal

Objectives Explain the purpose of the standard. Indicate whether the proposal is for the endorsement of an existing standard, creation a new standard, or adaption of existing standard(s).

Scope Describe the bounds of the standard. Clearly state what the standard will include and for what applications shall it be used, as well as what it will not include and to which applications it will not pertain.

Justification/Benefits Describe why the standard is necessary and what problems the standard will address.

Development Approach Recommend an approach to producing the standard. How will the project group go about developing the standard?

Development and Completion Schedule Outline a plan for development and a schedule for completion of the project. Include the anticipated frequency and durations of meetings and a target date for releasing a draft for public review.

Resources Required Identify what human and financial resources will be required to produce the standard.

Potential Participants Identify organizations and individuals that are competent in the subject matter and may have an interest in participating in the development of the standard. Recommend an FGDC subcommittee/working group to lead the standards activity or propose the creation of a new development group.

Related Standards Identify existing standards that are closely related, or any ongoing standards development activities that may affect this project.

Other Targeted Authorization Bodies Indicate whether the standard is targeted for other standards authorizing bodies, such as ANSI or ISO. Recommend whether the development of the standard should take place within the FGDC, or whether the FGDC should act as coordinator in bringing the standard to another standards body for development.

Amendments to approved proposals shall contain the following information:

Project Title "Amendment to (title of proposal being amended)."

Date of Proposal Date of proposal being amended.

Date of Amendment Date of amendment to proposal

Part of proposal being amended Identify the section of the proposal being amended, followed by the revised text.

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