What do I do first?

1. Conduct a self-assessment of your initiative against the "Criteria" to determine if you should be presenting to the GC EARB.

CRITERIA:[1]

Proposals concerned with the design, development, installation and implementation of digital services or solutions, information systems and applications ("digital initiatives") where the department is willing to invest a minimum of the following amounts in order to address the problem or take advantage of the opportunity:

$2.5 million + OPMCA of 0 or 1
$5 million + OPMCA of 2

$10 million + OPMCA of 3
$15 million Department of National Defence

$25 million + OPMCA of 4

That involve emerging technologies;

That require an exception to any applicable Directive or Standard under the Policy on the Management of Information Technology;

That are categorized at the protected B level or below‎ using a deployment model other than public cloud for application hosting (including infrastructure), application deployment, or application development; or

As directed by the Chief Information Officer of Canada.

2. Ensure that all proposals submitted for review to GC EARB have first been assessed by your DARB (Departmental Architecture Review Board) where one has been established.

3. Ensure your departmental initiatives are assessed against and align to the requirements set out as the GC Architectural Standards.

4. Ensure your departmental initiatives are assessed against and align to the requirements set out as the GC Architectural Standards.

How do you go about getting on the agenda?

Departmental Input

Go to GC Pedia to attain the most recent GC EARB "Presenter Template"
Complete the deck
Email the deck to the generic mailbox: ZZCIOBDP@tbs-sct.gc.ca

TBS - OCIO (EA Review)

GC EARB team receives alert of a new submission.
A tentative date for the presentation is identified.
A GC EA team conducts a review the input material.
Comments are provided back to the department for clarification.
A call/meeting occurs to discuss feedback and refine understanding.
Updated presentation materials may be requested.
The EARB meeting date is confirmed.

Prepare Assessment

An architectural assessment is prepared by the GC EA team.
Alignment against both the GC Digital and GC Architectural Standards is performed.
This feedback is provided to the department as well as used to brief the Co-chairs of the GC EARB prior to the meeting.

How it works... what to expect

TBS-OCIO Secretariat

2 weeks ahead:

The Secretariat will extend the calendar invitations to the presenters (typically 1-2 people)

1 week ahead:

They will request the presentation materials (both French and English) 1 week prior to the session
They prepare information packages for the EARB membership to review ahead of the meeting.

GC EARB Meeting

Time to present (being clear to the Board why you are here…. To seek endorsement to xxx )
A Record of Discussion (RoD) is prepared after the meeting to capture any highlights that the Board noted, as well as the decision of the Board with any conditions.
NOTE: The RoD may take several weeks to be officially published, but will be available on the GC EARB GC Pedia site.

Follow UP

There are times when departments must return to the GC EARB as a result of where the project is in it cycle, or from conditions identified by the Board.
The GC EA team will capture the need for a future visit and proactively schedule it on the GC EARB Forward Agenda.

Useful Links

GC EARB Handy Materials
Directive on the Management of Information Technology
Policy on Management of Information Technology
[EARB Presenter Template]
[GC Digital Standards]
[GC Architectural Standards]
[Application Programming Standards]

GC Enterprise Architecture/Board/When to come

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