In response to this challenge, the DEP and Sterling Resources developed RADIUS Coach to assist companies submitting electronic annual emission statements. 

The purpose of RADIUS Coach is to assist the approximately 1,000 companies that will file 1999 Air Emission Statements electronically using RADIUS. RADIUS Coach provides context-sensitive, step-by-step support on every aspect of completing electronic emissions statements. The elements of support need to extend far beyond information required to operate the RADIUS software; they must include managing environmental knowledge, promulgating data analysis best practices, educating users on aspects of regulatory policy, and connecting users with experts and expert resources available on the subject matter.

• Industry users need effective training and support in order to file emissions statements via RADIUS;
• DEP staff must be able to support the RADIUS rollout AND support ongoing work requirements;
• Industry must be made aware of the many benefits the new system initiative will provide to themselves, to DEP, and to the citizens of New Jersey;
• Industry users must be made aware of, and kept informed about, the conversion process and the system, procedural, and business changes that are underway. Along with this information, all users need to be kept up-to-date on the training, documentation, and other technical support that will be available to them; and
• DEP needs to provide superior client support and minimize rollout problems, especially since DEP expects to expand the use of electronic permitting and regulatory filing beyond Air Emissions. To a large extent the success of this ‘e-government’ initiative will influence industry and user acceptance of other initiatives and facilitate a smooth transition to electronic filings of other documents.

Design

RADIUS Coach utilizes performance centered design concepts to support total job performance, and provides superior knowledge delivery. The knowledge delivered by a RADIUS Coach is delivered in a manner specific to RADIUS, organized around the procedures, tasks, and systems associated with Emission Statements, and usable in real time (i.e. as a task is being completed).

Although not a training tool, RADIUS Coach also provides situational learning through the process of cognitive apprenticeship ("learning through doing"). The design of RADIUS Coach accommodates varying degrees of experience levels as personnel become familiar with the RADIUS system and new employees are hired by industry and expected to analyze emissions data and report on that data via RADIUS.

Development

Subject matter experts from the DEP, selected companies, environmental engineering consulting firms, and industry advocacy groups such as the New Jersey Chemical Industry Council were interviewed to determine a common ‘language’ across the content base and to establish best practices of emission data collection and analysis. Additionally, web-based resources provided by the DEP and the Environmental Protection Agency were evaluated for possible hyperlinking to the relevant Coach procedures. After the content had been written in MS Word documents, and reviewed/approved by DEP’s regulatory staff, the Word documents were merged into the RADIUS Coach database using Sterling’s AppRunner technology, depicted below in Figure (1). 

In addition to the AppWatcher component, three additional components are available to DEP for deployment:

• The ExpertChat plugin, depicted in Figure (4), creates links from within CoachWare procedures that launch real-time chat sessions with subject matter experts identified in the RADIUS Coach database. ExpertChat utilizes the TCP/IP protocol for communications, enabling CoachWare to use Internet/intranet resources for communications with subject matter experts and/or help desk personnel. 

• The AutoExport plugin, depicted in Figure (5), generates content from an existing CoachWare database, enabling RADIUS Coach procedures to be published to the DEP web site with push-button ease. 

• The AppRunner plugin is an intelligent agent that enables control of other applications. It can either send a single command to another application, or use a BATCH mode to send a series of commands to be invoked. Sending single commands, AppRunner can be used to launch another application, close another application, reposition another application, and many other possibilities. Using BATCH mode, AppRunner can create powerful macro statements spanning any number of programs on the Windows desktop. It can also be used to create 'Show Me' animations that guide users through steps in RADIUS, or help users locate obscure functions nested deep within the application's menu structure.

The content of RADIUS is organized around the workflow steps required to complete the emission statement process. These steps are:

• Reviewing Previous Year’s Data
• Analyzing New Data,
• Reviewing Pertinent Regulatory Guidance
• Preparing Emission Statement Data in RADIUS
• Performing QA on Completed Emission Statement in RADIUS 
• Submitting Emission Statement Via RADIUS

Users quickly access information they need through the RADIUS Control Panel, which operates like a table of contents. Information is organized into four categories: Emission Statements, Permitting, Reference and Bulletin Board (‘What’s New’). Information is organized by industry type; the Group View feature segments information for the appropriate user group. Therefore, users are able to access the specific information they need to complete each task. The Settings options allow users to control how Coach behaves on their desktops. Users generally select the "Keep on Top" feature, which allows them to work in RADIUS while viewing the step-by-step instruction. 

Procedures are displayed in the RADIUS Coach Panel, which "sits on top" of RADIUS; users can follow the step-by-step instructions while working in the system. Through the use of expanders, users are able to select the appropriate level of detail, based on their knowledge of the specified task. This approach allows experienced users to select high-level overview information and inexperienced users to drill down to detailed, step-by-step instructions. Decision trees guide users through the appropriate path, showing only the instruction that applies to a specific situation. A view of RADIUS Coach and RADIUS together is depicted in Figure (6).

To activate a context-sensitive launch of RADIUS Coach, users invoke AppWatcher. The AppWatcher plugin appears to the user as an icon in the system tray, as shown in Figure (8). 

Updating

Feedback

"We're very enthusiastic about being able to offer the business community more options and convenience when dealing with the DEP to encourage compliance. If we can better protect the environment through the development of new technologies, then we're moving in the right direction."
 

Within the context of completing an Emission Statement, RADIUS Coach guides users to appropriate activities based on their industry classification and regulatory status. Within a task, RADIUS Coach uses a question/answer format to tailor the displayed procedure to the exact situation faced by the user. This technique dynamically creates a procedure from the possible procedure scenarios stored in the RADIUS Coach database. In this way, users are not subjected to analysis activities or system tasks that are not required given their situation. 

One of the biggest challenges in this effort was bridging the gap between the language of how reporting was done yesterday, versus how reporting is conducted in the RADIUS era. Much of the language used in RADIUS for describing emission measurement, equipment classification, and analysis activities associated with Emission Statements is unfamiliar to users. RADIUS Coach bridges these syntax gaps and frees users from having to learn a new set of arcane system-based definitions. RADIUS Coach relies on the language common to all stakeholders, that of the promulgated regulatory policies, to minimize confusion or misunderstanding about what terms mean in RADIUS.

RADIUS Coach users are also presented with numerous links to web-based resources. This enables RADIUS Coach to perform as a knowledge pooling mechanism, providing relevance and context to various knowledge management resources available on the World Wide Web. The nature of these links range from specific citations of the New Jersey Code, to Environmental Protection Agency learning resources about the Clean Air Act.

RADIUS Coach can also utilize AppRunner and ExpertChat calls to provide heightened support to users (see descriptions, above).

The content of RADIUS is organized around the work flow steps required to complete the emission statement process. RADIUS Coach treats system interactions as activities subordinate to, and nested in, the overall tasks.

The task models themselves were developed based on the input of subject matter experts from the DEP as well as industry users and environmental engineering consultants. 

Within a task, RADIUS Coach uses a question/answer format to tailor the displayed procedure to the exact situation faced by the user. This technique dynamically creates a procedure from the possible procedure scenarios stored in the RADIUS Coach database. In this way, users are not subjected to analysis activities or system tasks that are not required given their situation. 

• Expands task definition to embrace the user’s entire activity, not just key strokes and mouse clicks;
• Creates a common language and reference point spanning a major governmental agency and 1,000 different companies;
• Provides context-sensitivity between the supported application and the EPSS without touching source code;
• Transforms disparate and wide-ranging web-based resources into specific, related, and linked resources supporting analysis and decision-making;
• Enables the content team to update and deliver new content databases on a schedule independent from the release schedule of the supported application;
• Extends the content creation team’s ability to provide real-time human performance support when and where necessary through calls to ExpertChat, an IP-based point-to-point chat plugin;
• Extends the content creation team’s ability to automatically manipulate RADIUS, as well as other applications, through AppRunner; and

• Delivers a content-rich EPSS with maximum functionality in a rapid development timeframe.

Since 1995, a homegrown FoxPro program was also available for preparing statements. This program was character-based and had no help facility or formal support program.

The computer users represented in this population are geographically dispersed and wide-ranging in computer literacy. The companies range from elementary schools to biotechnology research and development centers. All users share a common challenge: a lack of knowledge about the processes and procedures for complying with state regulations as they apply to the new RADIUS software and no skills in actually using RADIUS.

In the case of the RADIUS rollout, poorly executed training and support would have certainly driven many in industry to revert to filing on paper, thus directly raising DEP’s costs of data entry for these individuals. For individuals who did attempt to submit via RADIUS, poorly executed training and support would have resulted in high volumes of support calls and complaints to DEP’s RADIUS support infrastructure. In addition, high end-user dissatisfaction with RADIUS and the emissions statement filing process could have discouraged compliance and had negative public relations ramifications. Finally, the RADIUS Coach rollout is in keeping with DEP’s mission statement objective of "assuring that the best technology is planned and applied to achieve long-term goals."

In the month since RADIUS Coach’s introduction, we have agreed upon the most productive metrics for measuring the success of end-user training and support strategies. These are: the cost of training as a percentage of the total implementation, the percentage of people who have been trained/equipped with training and support tools, and the user’s satisfaction with the implementation three months after training (see Gartner Group Research Note DF-08-1941, May 12 1999). We are currently preparing a survey instrument for polling users about their experiences with RADIUS Coach. This survey should be completed by September 2000. 

A significant result of rolling out RADIUS Coach has already been garnered. New Jersey’s governor, Christie Todd Whitman, has hailed RADIUS Coach as a notable example of using technology to improve the performance of state government:

"Quick and easy filing of DEP reports electronically is only one example of how New Jersey is advancing on the goal of making the latest developments in web-based technology work for us as we reinforce our standing as the Online State," Governor Christie Whitman said. "Developing and utilizing new 'e-government' and 'e-business' technologies is key to getting the word out there that--whether we're talking about corporations choosing to locate their headquarters here or making it possible to get more done online -- New Jersey is open for business."