# Presentation: 145450

## SmarTechElectronic Field Office Technical Guide For Farm Bill Implementation

**March 15, 2002**

**National FOTG Committee**

**Notes:**
The SmarTech project was identified as a high priority Science and technology need and was funded in FY ‘02 at about $300,000.  Due to demands of the pending Farm Bill, SmarTech has been split into 2 phases.  The first phase has now been called Electronic Field Office Technical Guide (E-FOTG) and is scheduled to be operational at the State level by May 2002 -- only about 6-8 weeks from now.

## eFOTG and SmarTech will provide:

_**Catalog Function**_
**NRCS field conservationists and third party vendors the means to create electronic “thunderbooks” of technical content and download to laptop and hand-held computers.**
_**Customization Function**_
**Conservation planners interactive tools that process core FOTG information to perform resource analyses, create and compare conservation alternatives**
_**Interactive Function**_

**eFOTG and SmarTech will provide:**

**Notes:**
Together, E-FOTG and SmarTech will provide a comprehensive tool that helps States manage the content of their on-line electronic FOTG, will provide a means of ready access for employees and recognized third party vendors and ability to create customized technical downloads or “thunderbooks”, and a suite of other interactive tools and technical reference material
Most of what we will concentrate on in this presentation will be about the E-FOTG phase of SmarTech because it is what States need to be informed about to help them get their FOTG’s update and available online in the immediate time frame.  I will how ever show you some aspects of the larger SmarTech project so that you have a sense of  the functionality the whole package is intended to provide.

## People involved with SmarTech Project

** ****Regional Technology Specialists**
** ****State FOTG Committees**
** ****SmarTech Core Team**
** ****SmarTech Design Team (Field/State Representation)**
** ****Center & Institute Contributors**
** ****Partner Contributors**

**People involved with SmarTech Project**

## SmarTech Framework

**User Profile**

**SmarTech Framework**

**NRCS Field Staff & Third Party Vendors**
**access a custom view of eFOTG using My.NRCS**

**Contributors Provide Content**
**to the Technical Guide**

**State Technical Guide Committees Manage Tech Guide Catalog**

**Field Staff & 3rd Party Vendor Obtain User Accounts**

**Notes:**
 NRCS Field Staff & RECOGNIZED Third Party Vendors Obtain User Accounts-.  The reason we are emphasizing the term recognized and certified Third Party Vendors is that ITC estimates that the system can handle about 10,000 users.  NRCS has about 8,000 field employees and we anticipate initially having a couple thousand third party vendors who are certified to provide technical services.  Additional users demands will necessitate improvements or modifications to bandwidth or to the server hardware.

 State Tech Guide Committees Manage Tech Guide Catalog. -- The initial E-FOTG project will provide electronic access to all 5 Sections of the FOTG for all 50 States and provinces.  All 5 FOTG Sections will have subsections and place holders for States to populate with their FOTG material.

 Contributors Provide Content to the Technical Guide. --  The work to fully develop the E-FOTG will be a continuous effort.  Some of the full functionality of the tool with other interactive models and tools will not be available until the larger SmarTech project is completed.

 NRCS Field Staff & Third Party Vendors Create their FOTG Via My.NRCS. --  Users will be able to customize the look and feel of their E-FOTG web page just like other software products and services such as My.Yahoo, My.Netscape, My.MSN etc..  We will more on this in just a few minutes

## SmarTech Development Schedule

_**May 2002 (Catalog Phase)**_
**Provide states a framework to establish an official certified electronic Technical Guide for agency field staff and third party vendors.  Deliverables include:**
**State Technical Guide (TG) Framework linked to static My.NRCS**
**State TG Committee Management Accounts for access to Content Manager**
**Hosting of SmarTech in NRCS Web Farm**
_**November 2002 (Customization Phase)**_
**Provides NRCS field staff and third party vendors the means to create Tech Guide “thunderbooks” of frequently used material, which can be downloaded to laptops and hand-held computing devices.  Deliverables include:**
**My.NRCS Customizable eFOTG Pages (“Thunderbook”)**
**Thunderbook Download**
**Resource Data Viewer**

**SmarTech Development Schedule**

**Notes:**
May 2002 (Catalog Phase = E-FOTG)
Provides states a framework to establish an official certified electronic Technical Guide for agency field staff and third party vendors.  Deliverables include:
Consistent State Technical Guide (TG) Framework for all 50 States
State TG Committee Access User Accounts to develop and manage FOTG content.
Technical Guide User Accounts for NRCS employees and 3 PV’s
NRCS Web Farm Servers
November 2002 (SmarTech = Customization Phase)
Provides NRCS field staff and third party vendors the means to create Tech Guide “thunderbooks” of frequently used material, which can be downloaded to laptops and hand-held computing devices.  Deliverables include:
My.NRCS Customizable eFOTG Pages abililty to download specific technical material and create(“Thunderbook”)
Resource Data Viewer - GIS type interface to view spatial data
SMART technology to find answers to technical questions and problems

## Benefits of a SmarTech and online electronic Field Office Technical Guide

- Support and benefits Farm Bill implementation and program delivery
- Provides framework for showcasing NRCS technology
- Provides multiple ways to quickly access and process technology informatioin

- Reduces paperwork
- Provides a consistent and easy way for State committees to keep Technical Guides up-to-date and certified
- Provides Field Offices and third party vendors access to NRCS Technology across states and field offices

## “my.NRCS” is User Customized

**“*****my*****.NRCS” ****is User Customized**

**User Profile establishes which Technical Guides appear in my.NRCS**

**“****Tabs” Provide access to other NRCS program information**

**“****Pagelets” Allow for organization and customization of content**

**Notes:**
We are now going to focus our discussion on how States will use the system to develop their E-FOTG.  These processes will take advantage of the FOTG material that States already have developed and provide an efficient means to link their site to other appropriate technical information.
This screen shows how a typical NRCS user might arrange their E_FOTG page.  Employees and certified 3 PV’s will be assigned user profiles or “permissions” that allow them to access FOTG’s and other information.

## eFOTG provides common look to Technical Guides

**Tree Listing provides navigation to selected topics**

**eFOTG provides State/local perception**

**Provides for Nebraska introduction to eFOTG**

**eFOTG provides common look to Technical Guides**

**Notes:**
The E-FOG system will easy for State Technical Managers, SRC’s and others to manage and arrange their FOTG material.  The system will use the standard WINDOWS directory tree scheme where you click to collapse or expand folders and FOTG sections and subsections.  Lets see some more.

## eFOTG Accommodates all Types of Technical Guide Content  from Spreadsheets to Web Applications

***eFOTG***** Accommodates all Types of Technical Guide Content  from Spreadsheets to Web Applications**

**.pdf file**

**Word document or spreadsheet**

**Web application**

## Provides Interactive Conservation Technology Services

**Locate Area**

***Online Conservation Planning***

***Look for Resource Information***

***Answer a Resource Question***

***Use a Decision Support Tool like VegSpec, Manure Manager***

**Provides Interactive Conservation Technology Services**

**Notes:**
Later this year, when SmarTech is functional, an interactive technology tool will be available to help NRCS planners provide technical assistance.  
 The system will provide links to other functional tools, such as AWM, Veg Spec, the Plants database and Web-GLA.
 The system will contain a Resource Data Viewer that is comparable to what we currently have for functionality in Soil Data Viewer, the GIS interface with PRMS and the NRCS Lighthouse programs.  More on this later
 As well as the ability to link to other available on-line conservation planning tools such as the Idaho One_plan program or others as they become available.  Although it is technically possible to provide a link to our own ToolKit -- there are no definite plans to do that until questions about case file access and management, bandwidth and other logistics are worked out.

## SmarTech Saves Time and Reduces Workload

**Field offices save time by not having to file updates**
**National template with available content is provided**
**States can easily import content from other states**
**System maintenance is centralized, reducing burden on states**
**Third party vendors can access technical content without it being specially prepared for them**
**States can more easily manage and track updates**
**The framework accommodates and leverages existing state electronic Technical Guide content/sites**

**SmarTech Saves Time and Reduces Workload**

## The End