APPENDIX C: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT MIS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73T00325R000100010041-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: January 4, 2017
• Sequence Number: 41
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2008/09/23 CIA-RDP73T00325R000100010041-7
` �
Jti'ORKING PAPER 5-}-C-}?-E-T NORY.iNG PAPER
Ap~~endix C: Brief Description of the APPENDIX C
Current A9I5
To place the A�fIS in perspective historically, t}re original published
paper which came out in 1964 was entitlecl�"Proposal for The Establishment
of An Automated Time and h'ork Reporting System." In the early stages
of d.evelopmerit of. the AIIS, what was called the "total systems concept,"
at t}rat tune a very in-vogue buzz-phrase, was often invoked and unfortu-
nately misinterpreted, at least within NPIC, to mean. that all that had
to be done tvas to file or computerize every bit of. conceivably relevant
information which, in turn, could be combined in any way in the output
to satisfy all information needs. In certain cases, management was told
and believed this tale whic}r, needless to say, proved to be untrue. And
where it proved to be untrue in practice, naturally there vas a good deal
of justified resentment, disappointment, and disenchantment with the MIS
and computer-based information systems in general. These feelings have
persisted and today detract from the potential utility of the MIS in a
nwnber of ways, running t}rc gamut from affecting accuracy of input to
unfounded criticism of the system and reluctance to use it. It is perhaps
an understatement to say that there is a credibility gap with respect to
the current ~~tIS. Actually, in its current configuration, the system i.s
very much in line with the title of the original paper--an automated time
and work reporting system, nothing more, nothing less. It is indeed
unfortunate that so much misunderstanding as to the system's purpose and
capabilities was created ire the past and so much harmful oversell promul-
gated not only internally but also externally to the Center; for example,
at Headquarters, the Bureau of the Budget, and elsewhere.
The btIS recorc}s t}ie time spent by personnel (and. generates dollar
'i equivalents) in satisfying external and internal requests for products
or services or i.n performi_n~ the routine activities of. their organiza-
tional unit. These distributions can be examined from various view-
points, such as allocation of effort among the Center's major tasks,
� timeliness of project completion as compared with requested or "deadline"
date, t}~e expenditure of time against discrete projects, and so forth.
In addition, since much information about a project is stored in the
basic project "account"; e.g., requester, products, country or area,
priority/weight, title, etc., the A1IS also performs a project library
function along with the basic tirrre recording task.
The project request, once it ha.s been accepted by the Requirements
and Analysis Division and estimated and scheduled by the Production
- P~tanagement Board, becomes the basis for the establishment of a project
S-E-C-R-E-T
20
CIA-RDP73T00325R000100010041-7
Approved For Release 2008/09/23 CIA-RDP73T00325R000100010041-7
�
1tii0RKING PAPEP. S-E=C-R-�E-T {VORKING PAPER
Appendix C: Brief Description of the
Current ~1I5
"account" in the hfIS. This unique account number, the project number,
designates the major type of tivork being done, and the other descriptors
(title, requester, etc.) indicate certain characteristics pertinent to
the request. 1"he final xequirement is translated into a format com-
patible with the ~~tIS and is prepared for keyplrnching by the Systems
� Integration Staff: of AID. Each week the basic file is updated by add-
. ., ing new data to current projects, Changing data on current projects as
appropriate, adding new projects, and closing completed projects.
As the basic project account is being established in the computer
system, xeroxed copies of the original requirements are disseminated
to t}lose components that will participate in the project; the project
number is then transmitted to the individuals who will do the actual
work. As employees work on the project, they record the specific
activities undertaken against the project and the time expended fox
each activity. This recording mechanism is the weekly time sheet filled
out by each employee; in addition to employee name, badge number,
component, and grade, all projects worked on during the week are recoxded,
along with the specific activities and manhours for each project and
certain other "overhead" activities, such as leave, training, etc.
On Monday mornings, the time sheets of all employees are collected
by designated persons and delivered to the Systems Integration Staff.
On the following Tuesday and {+Iednesday, the new data is edited, key-
punched, and verified and corrected; normally on Thursday the magnetic
tape containing the main file is updated. On Friday, ~�rhen the updated
file is ready to be queried, t}le regular and ad-hoc I`IIS reports are
printed out. T}re Pi~'1B has an additional program that reads t}le updated
file, performs some scheduling computations, acid prints out the results.
In addition to the time sheet data, two other forms containing
data elements are transmitted to AID as xequired, but usually daily.
These are added to the main file during the weekly updates. One, the
work phase notice, primarily signals the start and finish dates for a
project in each component; the other is used to report product information
against a specific project.
The major data elements comprising the current N{IS are:
S-E-C-R-E-T
21
CIA-RDP73T00325R000100010041-7
1

Approved For Release 2008/09/23 CIA-RDP73T00325R000100010041-7
� -
}VUP.KING PAPER S-E-C-R-E-T NIORKING PAPER
Appendix C: Brief Description of the
1. Organizational Element -- Group, Staff, Division, Branch,
Section.
2.
3.
4.
S.
6.
' 7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Personnel -- Badge number, grade, name. ,
Project Time -- Regular time, overtime, and dollar equivalents.
Activity (Skill) Code
0
Project Title
Project Priority/l9eight
Project Number
Project Country/Geographic Area
Project Category Code -- Indicator of specific type of project.
Project Requester -- Organization levying request.
Security Classification of Project Requirement Form ,
12. Project Begin Date (by Component) '
13. Project Deadline (or Estimated Completion) Date (by Component)
14. Actual Completion/Cancellation Date (by Component)
~ 15. Project Product Code -- Numbers of discrete output items
i~ ~ produced under t}ie project number.
J
,,
S-E-C-R-E-T
1
22
Approved For Release 2008/09/23 CIA-RDP73T00325R000100010041-7