The authors describe in this paper the development of the Best Practice Guide on Data Management for Road Administrations which they have been involved in on behalf of the Deputy European Road Directors (DERDS) Group. The paper highlights the benefits which the adoption of the Guide can offer a Road Administration, from whichever continent or country, or at whatever stage of data and systems development. Even in well-developed countries and road administrations, there is a growing recognition that the full benefits of management systems are only realised when the data underpinning them is relevant, complete, up-to-date and without major errors. While improvements in the quality of data collection have multiplied in recent years, there is a more fundamental issue which is more often overlooked - the act of data management itself. There can hardly be a Road Administration in the world which can say that its data is managed in an ideal way. As a result, the authors argue that users are often not getting what they expect from their management systems. When the Road Data Sub-Group of DERDS reviewed available published material on data management, they found it seriously lacking, and in particular found nothing of direct relevance to the roads industry. The Best Practice Guide which has subsequently been produced draws on a wide range of experiences from a number of countries, and the knowledge and experience of several experts, to arrive at a practical set of procedures and practices that, if implemented should realise many benefits for a road administration. A summary of these is given in this paper. The paper starts with a definition of Data Management and describes why it is such an important discipline in ensuring that data are contributing positively to the organisation's aims. The paper goes on to deal with Data itself - how it supports all business aspects including the technico-economic aspects of a public administration. Different Data Types are described, how they align with the organisation's business and how a logical approach to Data Modelling can assist in maximising the use made of data. The Best Practice Guide describes '7 Steps to Good Data Management', and these will be covered in a very practical way in the paper. Examples will be given from several countries and types of Administration. To conclude, the paper will suggest the steps towards implementing a Data Management Regime in a Road Authority and how to focus on delivering the benefits - in other words, getting what you expected from your management systems through better organisation and management of the data underpinning it. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135448.
Samenvatting