The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines quality, in a project context as, "the degree to which project deliverables meet requirements". This general definition places the focus on a need for well-defined requirements for project execution and deliverables. Quality planning should occur as part of the development of project deliverable specifications and work planning. Identification and characterization of quality as a basis for quality management procedures is helped by reference to accepted standards.
There are a number of government and independent organizations that develop and promote standards relating to different aspects of quality (of GIS products and project deliverables. Consider taking a look at resources of the following organizations to get a better understanding of accepted GIS-related standards:
Other standards organizations, not specific to GIS or spatial data but which develop and promote standards some of which relate to information technology and quality parameters, include:
There are two terms that are widely used in quality management (in GIS and other fields), quality control and quality assurance. These terms are used somewhat differently by different practitioners. In GIS projects (particularly for GIS database development), they are often used interchangeably. So, as you encounter these terms in project specifications, contractor service descriptions, and white papers, be aware that there is not a full consensus on their meaning. A practical usage of these terms in GIS projects is as follows:
For the purposes of this course we will refer to Quality control (QC) as the tools, processes, and range of automated and manual checks that are put in place to meet quality requirements as deliverables are being prepared (e.g., GIS database deliverables). The intent is to produce the deliverables that fully meet project specifications and quality requirements. The related term, quality assurance (QA), refers to tools and procedures used to assess adherence to specifications and quality requirements after initial deliverable completion and in a final step to check and approve the deliverables. QA checking should be performed as a separate step from deliverable production/preparation, and often by a separate group or people from those involved in deliverable production. Often that separate group is a client organization that has contracted GIS services (database development) to a private firm. QC and QA are related and may use similar tools and procedures, but their use in the entire workflow from deliverable preparation to final acceptance is different. In practice, if QA checking reveals problems with deliverables, the deliverable is subjected to additional steps to correct errors and re-submit it--at which point it is usually subjected to another round of QA checking.