AKFIN Advisory Committee News

Advisory Committee Launched
The first AKFIN Advisory Committee meeting was held at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau, Alaska on Thursday, September 13, 2007. AKFIN stakeholders from a number of partnering agencies were invited to participate as committee members. The Committee was officially launched, major issues facing AKFIN stakeholders were identified, and follow up actions are now being taken to address key issues.

What We Heard

• There is a strong desire to see AKFIN documentation turned into a data library available for public access.
• AKFIN has the potential to help stakeholders understand the differences in data among different sources. The committee can provide help with data quality validation.
• Given the complexity of the data and the data warehouse, it could be beneficial to all parties for AKFIN to provide training on how to use the warehouse effectively.
• It is desired that base data sets be developed.
• While AKFIN doesn't create the data, AKFIN has the ability and responsibility to act as a data steward, reporting bad data back to the sources, helping with version control, etc.
• Camille's demonstration inspired significant conversation about the data sets that are needed by AKFIN stakeholders and data warehouse that has been developed.

What We've Done

• A subcommittee has been formed to work on the core data sets.
• Extensive work has been done to create a comprehensive fish ticket file.

What We're Doing

• A subcommittee will be formed to work on the metadata tool.
• More information will be requested from stakeholder agencies regarding data processes, particluarly ad hoc decisions and process flow.

On the Horizon

 The next AKFIN Advisory Committee meeting will be in May 2008