1. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Presentation to ONWEC,
May 19, 2010
TITLE OF MY WORKING GROUP IS BROAD: “INFORMATION & DATA COLLECTION’
THAT COULD MEAN MANY THINGS SO I AM ASKING ONWEC TO BE FOCUSED IN WHAT IT REQUIRES ME TO DO IF I AM TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL THIS YEAR
THE FOLLOWING SLIDES PRESENT THE ONWEC “FOCUS THEME” AND RELATED “GOAL AND OBJECTIVE” THAT RELATE TO “DATA COLLECTION” THAT WERE CHOSEN DURING THE STRATEGIC PLANNING EXERCISE LATE LAST YEAR
Presenter: Michael White

2. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Related ONWEC Focus Themes:
B) Renew/grow the Neighbourhood Watch Program
C) Have common tools available across the city
AS A FORMER STRATEGIC PLANNER, I WOULD CALL FOCUS THEME “B” [READ………..] A PRIMARY THRUST OF ONWEC PLANNING BECAUSE THE LONG TERM SURVIVAL OF NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH MIGHT BE THREATENED IF WE DON’T DO IT.
IT IS THE DRIVING FORCE FOR THE WORK OFTHE INFORMATION & DATA COLLECTION WORKING GROUP
THE OTHER TWO FOCUS THEMES:
A) WORK COHESIVELY AND PROMOTE OPEN COMMUNICATION
C) HAVE COMMON TOOLS AVAILABLE ACROSS THE CITY
…ARE IMPORTANT, BUT THEY CAN BE CONSIDERED SECONDARY THRUSTS BECAUSE THEY RELATE MORE TO IMPROVING NWP PROCESSES THAN PROGRAM SURVIVAL E.G. IF WE DO “B”, BUT DON’T DO “A” AND “C”, THE PROGRAM MAY BECOME LESS EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE BUT WOULD LIKELY CONTINUE TO SURVIVE.
THAT SAID, THEME “C” IS ALSO A FOCUS OF THE INFORMATION & DATA COLLECTION WORKING GROUP
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN “PRIMARY” AND “SECONDARY” FOCUSES?
IN A CONFLICT OR A DECISION ABOUT RESOURCES, YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU FAVOUR YOUR PRIMARY THRUST WHEN MOVING FORWARD.

3. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Prime Related WG Goal/Objective:
#7 We need to establish a reliable baseline this year for membership data, so that we can monitor from year to year and know how the program is doing (can’t grow it if we don’t know how big we are right now)
IN ORDER TO MEET THE PRIMARY FOCUS THEME OF RENEWING/GROWING NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH, ONWEC HAS DETERMINED THAT THE WG MUST {READ…..]
BASED ON THIS CLEAR STRATEGIC DIRECTION, THE WG WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE TASK OF CAPTURING MEMBERSHIP BASELINE DATA IN A WAY THAT PROVIDES ONWEC WITH THE SUMMARY DATA THAT IT NEEDS
TO BE CLEAR:
THE FOCUS OF THE WG IS NOT ON BROAD DATA GATHERING OR ANALYSIS OF THAT DATA.
IT WILL NOT BE AN NWP INCIDENT REPORTING SYSTEM
THE WG WILL AUTOMATE EXISTING NWP PROCESSES; IT WILL NOT UNDERTAKE A PROCESS REDESIGN IN ACQUIRING A DB

4. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Assumptions:
Privacy of NWP members to be respected (multi-level, compartmented security)
Shift from paper to electronic data
Simplify NW recruitment at same time
Respect existing NWP processes/roles
Scaleable database solution
Affordable
Low maintenance
Robust DB with needed functionality
HERE ARE MY ASSUMPTIONS:
COORDINATORS AND CPC OFFICERS, BOTH HAVE WARNED THAT PEOPLE WANT THEIR PRIVATE INFO CLOSELY CONTROLLED
OPPORTUNITY TO AUTOMATE THE LABOUR INTENSIVE AND PAPER INTENSIVE RECRUITMENT AND MEMBERSHIP TRACKING PROCESSES
NO PROCESS REENGINEERING – EXISTING ROLES/PROCESSES
WE WANT THE DB TO BE SCALEABLE, POSSIBLY EVEN TO COUNTRY-WIDE, COST EFFECTIVE, EASY TO OPERATE AND AVAILABLE TO MEET OUR NEEDS FOR SIGN-UP AND SUMMARY INFORMATION

5. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Recommended Approach:
ONWEC requirement is for summary data, not detailed information about NW participants
Preferable to rent than buy a web-based database that automates recruitment and provides membership statistics
New membership data should be captured as part of the on-line sign up process (i.e. to the extent possible)

6. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Recommended Approach (cont.):
One-time process will be necessary to enter existing membership data into new DB
Database approach should be scaleable from street, to community, to zone, to city
New database must be bilingual

7. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Recommended Approach (cont.):
Street Coordinator will provide quality control and manage member details in the DB for their Watch.
Block Captains will continue to work through their Street Coordinator
A NW representative will follow up a recruitment with a face to face meeting

8. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Recommended Approach (cont.):
Street Coordinators will continue to manage communications to their Watches;
DB functionality will generate addresses for separate mailings
ONWEC and CPCs able to query the database to obtain required summary data for city, community and zone, respectively

9. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Cost of a web-based relational database able to handle Ottawa’s NW requirements:
Approximately $10K in DB development costs (one-time)
$ per year in DB rental costs (ongoing)
Source of funding:
Ottawa Police Services budget (recommended)

10. NWP Membership Baseline Data
Estimated Timeline:
Consultation between ONWEC reps and CPCs and between CPCs and NW Coordinators, and consolidation of requirements – over next 2 months
Selection and programming of the NW database (especially bilingualism and multi-level security) – over following 2 months
Time to enter existing membership data – over last 3 months
** Target date for DB IOC is end of calendar year