# Establish or Define Governance Structures ##

**Establish or Define Governance Structures** There is often a tendency to consult stakeholders and establish governance structures at the beginning of a project and end discussions there. Be careful to manage this pitfall as success of the project is often due to communication and buy-in from stakeholders and governance structures. If governance structures are already defined, clearly establish how the project team and stakeholders align and report to governance groups. If governance structures are not already in place, the team will need to begin to establish some governance structure that will work for the scope of the project. Consider options for forming a structure that can be used to support the current project with an eye toward establishing structures that can be used to govern health ICT projects as they arise. Make sure to consider the different stakeholder groups that may have to contribute the data captured, utilize the data or support the tooling or infrastructure as stakeholders are considered. As new business cases arise, the group should strategically plan scale up and implementation in-line with national and international data exchange and terminology standards. The composition of the stakeholder groups may be dynamic with new members joining the group as new requirements emerge and are prioritized through established governance structures. {% hint style="success" %}

**Reference:** [Digital Implementation Investment Guide](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240010567) (Chapter 5.3: Leadership and Governance Considerations) {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://guides.ohie.org/getting-started/dev/pathway-1-component-and-data-exchange/phase-1-governance-value-and-scope/establish-or-define-governance-structures.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.