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MULTIDISCIPLINARY DATA MANAGEMENT SUPPORT (MDMS) 101 OVERVIEW

WHAT IS THE MDMS?

The objectives of MDMS task order is to provide 

support to Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) Federal and contract project managers to 

manage their data and to provide access to and use 

of data from completed and current FHWAsponsored projects. The purpose of this task order is 

twofold:

• To support the Turner-Fairbank Highway 

Research Center (TFHRC) Office of Safety 

and Operations Research and Development

(HIRSI) project managers in managing their 

project data during all stages of their 

projects.

• To have a centralized data repository to 

enable easy identification and access to data 

that illustrates project benefits. 

MDMS is a continuation of the Data Resources 

Testbed (DRT), and all projects under DRT will be 

stored in the MDMS for the duration of this task 

order.

1

JSON.org. 2002. JSON (software), 

https://www.json.org/jason-en.html, last accessed January 18, 

2023.

WHAT DEPARTMENT OF 

TRANSPORTATION (DOT) 

ORGANIZATIONS AND PROJECT DATA 

RESIDE IN THE MDMS?

HRSO project data that need to be archived will 

reside in the MDMS until an official repository is

identified for the data. The MDMS may provide 

long-term storage of critical data in rare cases when 

no repository is available that meets the 

requirements of the project or when project

requirements do not include storing data in a DOT 

repository. HRSO projects may deal with data from

the data collection stage to the data manipulation, 

reduction, and analysis stages. Then the sharing of

data with other projects or the public stage begins.

The final stage is archiving the collected and 

produced data. Depending on the research project, 

the generated or collected data may include 

foundational primary data (e.g., geometric data, 

traffic flow data, video data, and connected vehicle 

data) or derived data (e.g., traveler information data, 

traffic operations analysis data, safety analysis 

data). The MDMS stores numerous data types such 

as PDF (portable document format), txt (text), csv

(Comma-Separated Values), JavaScript Object 

Notation, etc. (JSON1).

Office of Safety and Operations 

Research and Development

OFFICE NAME
OFFICE OF SAFETY AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT | MULTIDISCIPLINARY DATA MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

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WHERE IS THE MDMS?

Initially, the MDMS uses the local storage unit

secured by the TFHRC information technology 

system. A cloud repository is being developed 

under MDMS task to store all current and future 

project data. Access to the cloud environment will 

be managed, granted, and supported by the MDMS 

support team. 

HOW DO PROJECT MANAGERS DECIDE 

WHERE TO STORE THEIR PROJECT 

DATA?

Using figure 1 to map the decision process, the 

project manager first must determine if the data are

valuable to the public, if they are sensitive,

including containing personally identifiable 

information (PII), if a data use agreement exists, 

and, lastly, if it is a large dataset.

Source: FHWA.

ITS = intelligent transportation system.

Figure 1. Diagram. Data management

decision process.

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR 

STORING DATA IN THE MDMS?

Resources are being developed to assist FHWA 

staff with managing data and determining what data 

may be appropriate to save, where those data could 

be archived, and who may be allowed to access and 

use the data and resources. The resources include:

• Detailed criteria on what data to save and for 

how long, as well as procedures for how to 

archive and access data stored in the 

MDMS.

• Project checklist to assist with identifying 

the lifecycle of data throughout the duration 

of the research project. 

• Scope of work requirements and issues to 

consider during procurement of documents 

for research projects involving the 

collection, storage, and availability of data.

• Data management plan (DMP) template.

• Metadata document (e.g., data structure and 

documentation).

• Data sharing agreement template.

• Quality assurance/Quality control document.

WHAT ARE METADATA, DMP, QUALITY 

ASSURANCE DOCUMENT, AND DATA 

SHARING AGREEMENT?

Metadata Checklist: provides information about 

one or more aspects of the data. It is used to 

summarize basic information about data that can 

make tracking and working with specific data easy.

DMP: documents the lifecycle of the data. The 

DMP details the data to be produced, managed, and 

stored, and standards to use during the project as 

well as an access authorization procedures and ways 

to handle and protect data during and after the 

completion of the project.

Start process

Data has 

value for 

public 

access?

Sensitive 

data?

Data use 

agreement? 

Is there 

sensitive 

data?

Large data 

or video?

Needed 

for future 

research

Save data & resources

Multidisciplinary Data 

Management Support 

End process–do not 

store data
OFFICE OF SAFETY AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT | MULTIDISCIPLINARY DATA MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

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Quality Assurance/Quality Control: considers 

everything in data collection that could go wrong 

ahead of time and plans to preempt these issues.

Data Sharing Agreement: provides an overview of 

recommended data collection and management 

practices, FHWA policies, and other resources 

available to support Federal staff and their project 

teams.

WHAT ARE THE DOT PUBLIC DATA 

REPOSITORIES?

The following list shows where specific types of 

data can be accessed publicly on DOT and FHWA 

websites:

• Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

Public Data Hub: Point of entry to search 

and access all ITS and Operations related 

data publicly available on U.S. DOT’s 

portals. https://www.its.dot.gov/data/

• National Transportation Library: Portal 

for technical reports and derived 

transportation data. https://ntl.bts.gov/

• Data.Transportation.gov: Portal for 

primary research data. 

https://data.transportation.gov/

• Secure Data Commons: A cloud-based 

analytics platform that enables traffic 

engineers, researchers, and data scientists to 

access transportation-related datasets that 

are not eligible to be placed on an open 

portal. https://its.dot.gov/data/secure

2 Amazon Web Services. n.d. “Secure Standardized Logging 

Service - AWS CloudTrail” (web page). 

https://aws.amazon.com/cloudtrail/, last accessed January 18, 

2023.

3 National Institute of Standards and Technology. 2020. 

Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and 

WHAT HAPPENS TO DATA?

Once project data have been stored in the MDMS 

cloud repository, CloudTrail2tracking is enabled to 

provide status updates on activity. The MDMS 

support team will work with project managers to 

either transfer their data to a public repository or 

keep it on the MDMS cloud repository. The MDMS 

provides security as well as access to the data stored 

on the MDMS cloud repository.

HOW DO WE ENSURE DATA IS SECURE IN 

THE MDMS?

The MDMS follows the SP 800-53 guidelines 

published by National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST)3. A disaster and recovery plan 

has been developed to recover all vital information. 

The Design Engagement Review Team requires a 

security system plan in accordance with NIST 

guidelines to identify and provide information 

security protections for information systems that 

process, store, or transmit controlled unclassified 

information (CUI). The system security plan 

focuses on protecting the confidentiality of CUI in 

nonfederal systems and organizations using security 

control baselines published in SP 800-53 based on 

CUI regulation.

HOW DO WE MANAGE ACCESS TO THE 

DATA STORED ON MDMS?

Project managers whose data are stored on the 

MDMS repository are responsible for determining if 

their data will be accessible to users external to 

HRSO. Based on those decisions, the MDMS will 

provide access to authorized parties, track use of the

Organizations. SP 800-53 Rev. 5. Gaithersburg, MD: National 

Institute of Standards and 

Technology.https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-

53/rev-5/final, last accessed January 18, 2023.
OFFICE OF SAFETY AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT | MULTIDISCIPLINARY DATA MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

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Recommended citation: Federal Highway Administration,

Multidisciplinary Data Management Support (MDMS) 101 Overview

(Washington, DC: 2023) https://doi.org/10.21989/1521977

FHWA-HRT-23-034

HRDS-20/03-23(WEB)E

data, and share that information with project 

managers. Users will be encouraged to share any 

further development of the data with the MDMS,

project managers, and with other users who are 

interested in the same data.

TFHRC has 15 laboratories for research in the following areas: safety and operations, including ITS materials 

technology; pavements; structures; and human-centered systems. The expertise of TFHRC scientists and 

engineers covers more than 20 transportation-related disciplines. These laboratories are vital resources for 

advancing this body of knowledge created and nurtured by TFHRC researchers.

FHWA’s Office of Research, Development, and Technology operates and manages TFHRC to conduct 

innovative research to provide solutions to transportation problems both nationwide and internationally. 

TFHRC is located at 6300 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101