A Business Strategy for Advanced Technology Systems in the Australian Hydrographic Service (AHS) Environment

A Business Strategy for Advanced Technology Systems in the Australian Hydrographic Service (AHS) Environment

The Digital Hydrographic Database (DHDB) plays a crucial role in the operations of the Australian Hydrographic Service (AHS), serving functions such as handling requests, inventory management, and customer sales and payments. However, as of 2025, the current status of the evolutionary sustainment activities for the DHDB remains unclear.

Established in 2004, the DHDB was accepted by the Commonwealth of Australia with the aim of improving existing systems and processes within the AHS. By 2011, the DHDB technology was found to be obsolete, incapable of supporting the increasing digital archive and information management requirements of the AHS.

In an effort to address these issues, the Hydrographic Information and Production Initiative (HIPI) was established. The HIPI adopted a hierarchical Enterprise Architecture (EA) Framework with goals and initiatives, business products and services, data and information flows, systems and applications, networks and infrastructure, lines of business, artifacts, and threads.

The primary lines of business (LOB) to be addressed within the evolutionary sustainment activities are Source Information Receipt and Registration, Validated Information Theme LOBs, Product Compilation and Maintenance, and Survey and Chart Planning. The current bespoke tools in the DHDB are being integrated to enable input from various safety agencies and parties responsible for navigation within Australian waters.

Performance measures for each sustainment activity within the EAP include overall reduced number of enterprise software and database applications, improved component integration, improved workflow operations, improved quality assurance of products and services, reduced data and product error rates, increased application end-user satisfaction, improved customer response, improved IT investment decision-making, improved systems' maintenance processes, new capabilities, and meeting contractual budget requirements.

The AHS is also working on issuing Hydrographic Instructions describing survey requirements to RAN survey assets in a format that can be easily ingested into RAN surveying systems. Furthermore, Business Intelligence tools will provide a key capability in the strategic planning process of the AHS, aiding decision-making in areas such as customer profiling, product capability, and sales.

The future survey and chart planning documents will be web-enabled and are yet to be finalised in terms of content and output format. The ICT Infrastructure includes hardware, software, networking, and implementation, with current activities including DHDB software application baseline remediation, reducing the number of operating networks, and implementing a new Internet Gateway capability.

The Defence White Paper 2013 reiterated the need for the future hydrographic capability to provide maritime military geospatial information outputs to support various activities, including understanding and shaping Australia's strategic environment, conducting combined joint combat operations, and providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. In 2013, a new maintenance contract for the DHDB was signed with BAE Systems Australia Ltd.

Despite the efforts to update and sustain the DHDB, the system's capability shortcomings led to the development of several internal work-around solutions, resulting in an operating environment with multiple non-integrated networks and systems, mixed software technologies, bespoke solutions, inconsistent workflow operations, and minimal training opportunities for staff.

For authoritative and detailed updates on the current status or progress of evolutionary sustainment activities for the DHDB by AHS, contacting the Australian Hydrographic Service directly or consulting internal or government publications specific to Australian maritime hydrography may be necessary.

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] (Sources for general hydrographic survey standards, quality assessments of hydrographic data, and updates related to nautical charting and hydrographic services)

Interim Operational Release (IOR) of the DHDB was deferred pending completion of contractual requirements. The AHS is responsible for collecting, compiling, and collating hydrographic and other nautical information as required under international conventions. Existing software tools will be sustained to improve planning capabilities and interoperability with other DHDB systems for risk assessment of survey operations.

In conclusion, the evolutionary sustainment activities for the DHDB in the AHS aim to address the system's capability shortcomings and improve its efficiency. However, as of 2025, the current status of these activities remains unclear, necessitating direct contact with the AHS for detailed updates.

1. The adoption of an Enterprise Architecture Framework by the Hydrographic Information and Production Initiative (HIPI) is aimed at improving the efficiency of the Digital Hydrographic Database (DHDB) in the Australian Hydrographic Service (AHS).
2. The primary lines of business (LOB) addressed within the evolutionary sustainment activities of the DHDB include Source Information Receipt and Registration, Validated Information Theme LOBs, Product Compilation and Maintenance, and Survey and Chart Planning.
3. Performance measures for the sustainment activities within the EAP include improved workflow operations, reduced data and product error rates, increased application end-user satisfaction, improved customer response, and improved IT investment decision-making.
4. The AHS is also focusing on issuing Hydrographic Instructions and using Business Intelligence tools for strategic planning, aiding decision-making in areas such as customer profiling, product capability, and sales.
5. Future survey and chart planning documents will be web-enabled and are yet to be finalised in terms of content and output format.
6. As of 2025, the current status of the evolutionary sustainment activities for the DHDB remains unclear, necessitating direct contact with the AHS for detailed updates on progress.

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