Electronic Forest Management (e-FM) Initiative

The Ministry’s shift to conduct business through electronic transmission of information with the business community is called the Electronic Forest Management initiative (e-FM).

The e-FM initiative includes a suite of ministry applications that are available to Ministry business partners and focuses on business transformation, efficient approval processes and electronic transactions and records.

A fundamental and central component of e-FM is to use an electronic submission framework (ESF) to conduct business with the Ministry’s business community. The ESF application supports conducting business with the exchange of “attribute (forms) and spatial data (maps)” information through a single, standardized interface across external and internal organizations.

Key business components of the e-FM initiative are: e-Access, e-Records, and e-Learning. System development projects are underway in each of these categories. Many new capabilities are already available, and more are under development for future release.

e-Access
e-Records – Electronic Records Management
e-Learning – On-Line Classroom – Web-based Training

Access to Trim – TRIM data

As part of the E-FM initiative, GeoBC is making TRIM base map data available for free to licensees that are meeting their statutory reporting requirements using ESF and the other E-FM tools. Details of the announcement replacing Data Exchange Agreements with this new policy

e-Access

BCeID

BCeID is an online service that makes it possible for you to use your Login ID and password to sign in securely to any BCeID participating British Columbia Government internet site.

Important: Access to applications may require a BC Government user ID (BCeID).

If your company does not have a BCeID, please see BCeID Registration Process
If your company has a BCeID, please see Requesting Access to Electronic Forest Management (e-FM) Applications

e-Records

Electronic Records Management

The Ministry is introducing a method for filing both internal and external electronic mail based on the government's Microsoft Exchange email system and government's ARCS and ORCS filing standard. Since the vast majority of business correspondence today is via email or email attachments, this system is expected to replace most of the Ministry's paper-based filing methods over time. Because this new tool incorporates the capacity to do electronic word by word searches through all email and documents held in it, it will significantly improve the Ministry's capacity to locate information relevant to any topic.

Legal documents already in existence in hard copy media must be retained for evidentiary purposes. Many of the Ministry's significant documents are very old, and are in paper format. These documents will still have value to the Ministry and to government decades from now. Over time, an electronic version of these documents may be made available for Ministry reference/viewing, thereby ensuring preservation of valuable historic records while providing easier access.

e-Learning

Learning Management System - The Ministry's e-learning system provides a catalog of courses. It was used by Ministry and Industry staff to register for the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) question and answer sessions in March 2004. It allows students to sign up for web-based and classroom training, and tracks and reports on courses taken and grades received. The system is available to Ministry and Industry staff to register for Ministry-sponsored courses such as FRPA, when required.

On-Line Classroom - This utility provides a simulated classroom in real time to students who are geographically separated. So far, it has been used for training Ministry and Industry staff on the RESULTS application and the new Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA), among other things. It has received favourable reviews.

Web-based Training - The Ministry is making a significant investment in courses that can be taken via the Web. These interactive courses can be taken at a student’s convenience, at the student’s own learning speed. Tests to check comprehension can be built in, and the Learning Management System is capable of recording test results. Several of these courses will be available to industry over the upcoming months.