Problem Statement and Goals

Problem Statement:

The original Seed Planning and Registry (SPAR) was deployed into Production in 2003. SPAR is the Ministry of Forests' online tree seed registry. It allows users to: • Order seeds or seedlings, request cone and seed processing, and seed testing • Enter and update information about their seedlots, orchards, and parent trees, and • Generate reports about seedling requests, and the seedlot inventory. SPAR supports reforestation, forest and ecosystem rehabilitation and wildfire recovery and maintains the province’s tree seed inventory valued at over $110 million. It's also designed around Climate Based Seed Transfer (CBST) to help forests adapt to climate change. SPAR guides users through the selection of suitable seedlots using the transfer rules found in the Chief Forester’s Standards for Seed Use. SPAR is one of the first applications to undergo modernization under the Forestry Digital Services Modernization Project (FDS). SPAR is a complex application consisting of over 150 screens with internal dependencies and external dependencies (such as other FDS applications). Additionally, SPAR has numerous different user groups with varying business needs. Modernization will occur in an incremental and phased approach in which impacted user groups will be reached out to for discovery interviews, prototyping, usability testing, and user acceptance testing.

Goals:

1. The modernized Seed Planning and Registry application (SPAR) will be designed and developed to meet the needs of its varying user groups.
2. Digital products & services developed as part of the FDS project will use the Open ID Connect (OIDC) standard for security whenever possible.
3. The modernized application will provide an intuitive user interface and meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) international standards.
4. SPAR will be built in line with the Chief Forester’s Standards for Seed Use.