Department of State / International Joint Commission

The International Joint Commission is an organization jointly created by the U.S. and Canada to carry out the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. The IJC seeks to prevent and resolve disputes over all waters shared by the two countries. The IJC has two main responsibilities: approving projects that affect water levels and flows across the boundary and investigating transboundary issues and recommending solutions. Its recommendations and decisions take into account the needs of a wide range of water uses, including drinking water, commercial shipping, hydroelectric power generation, agriculture, ecosystem health, industry, fishing, recreational boating and shoreline property.

SID provided expert support for IJC to improve their geospatial products. This work focused on the Esri ArcGIS Enterprise platform operated by IJC staff. We provided:

• Web map application support
• Organization and deployment of online ArcGIS products
• Training
• Curate content on the ArcGIS Online platform
• Recommend best practices for improvement

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA)/ Bureau of Water (BOW)

To demonstrate to the IEPA how they could merge multiple databases (Oracle, Informix, DB2, Access, and Sybase) & 23 applications into a single system, SID reviewed the IEPA’s existing databases and applications and developed a System Concept. Upon review & approval by IEPA, we worked with IEPA to design, develop & implement an enterprise system called Proteus. Proteus delivered the functionalities of all 23 systems it replaced, as well as multiple new features, without compromising security. The new enterprise system was built using .NET and SQL Server.

The enterprise Proteus, a web-based system, provided public access to important water data to Illinois state government offices, the Bureau of Water (BOW), and public users. In addition, we developed a workflow system that integrated heterogeneous IEPA data into a comprehensive database for BOW. This system assisted in the collection of water resource information and facilitates the distribution of such data to decision-makers and the public.

We designed Proteus to integrate with a broad infrastructure of servers, web applications, data, and business processes. Proteus employed strategic information flow to provide better service, improved the quality of service provided by BOW to their users and the public, and reduced the total cost of ownership for the agency.

SID also developed a mobile application that enabled IEPA field technicians to capture water data on-site, perform quality control, and upload the data to the Proteus database. The mobile application also allowed them to access the data already in the database, synchronizing periodically with the database to ensure users were viewing the most current data. In addition, the mobile application allowed the state to perform due diligence for well permit requests and allowed the IEPA to issue well permits automatically to end-users.

Wage & Hour Division (WHD)/ U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

The Wage Determination System (WDS) is a knowledge management system with sub systems. These integrated applications generate wage determinations to establish prevailing wage rates used by contractors on government-funded construction projects. The systems manage salary surveys, ingest wage data via imaged forms and the web, perform intelligent craft classification, calculate rates, and generate and publish wage determinations.

SID worked with WHD to bring WDS to completion, fully meeting the needs of users. We created a requirements document, fully analyzed the system, recommended enhancements and upgrades, and reprogrammed software, resulting in a system that was well received by end-users. To better maintain WDS web applications, SID enhanced the architecture and completed new documentation, providing WHD with a robust system much easier to maintain.

SID continues to provide web application development and support, content management, project management, web content management, quality assurance, and enterprise technology support services to WHD personnel throughout the continental United States.

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)

SID provided webmaster services for NESDIS and web developer services for the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) and associated websites, helping NESDIS and NODC reach their communications objectives and increasing integrity of the code and underlying structure of each organization’s website and web products.

SID helped to improve design, visualization of data, code base, and layout by aligning with industry best practices as well as undertake important development projects. Our work resulted in NODC web sites fully compliant with Federal mandates for security and access. Introduction of SID’s approach saved time and resources, allowing staff to focus on other areas, such as further enhancing user experience and navigability of content.

Telecommunications Support; Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)

As part of our long-running support to the NOAA OCIO, SID provides telecommunications and data communications support to the Telecommunications and ADP Security Branch. SID oversaw review and acceptance of NOAA’s transition to NETWORX and is working closely with them for the introduction of VoIP. SID billing analysis has saved NOAA and its line offices more than $1 million by catching incorrect billing data.

Geospatial Information Office (GIO) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) / U.S. Department of Interior (DOI)

SID developed a web-based application in a relational database and integrated it with geographic information system applications widely used in GIO. The application maintains and displays large amounts of data and information collected from thousands of sights throughout the United States. Where data access had been cumbersome and manual, SID’s application now provides researchers with the ability to retrieve data and other information via the Internet in both tabular and graphical formats. It provides seamless data retrieval from archives, interfaces with legacy processing routines, and processes data from multiple stations or the same station using different variables.

Employment & Training Administration (ETA) / U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

E-Grants is an enterprise-wide, web-enabled, automated grants management system, used to process and track $8.5 billion in grants per year, supporting more than 750 headquarters and regional users and 3,000 grantees.

SID redesigned the user interfaces for E-Grants, making them more intuitive and allowing the application to run faster and more efficiently. We support development of a new release, which addresses navigational improvements, a general application face, new reporting tools, and system optimization. The release includes 15 documented enhancements to extend the system’s functionality. SID database optimization has improved data reporting capabilities.

SID continues to support operational and ongoing maintenance of the E-Grants system, including systems analysis, requirements and design preparation, development of new applications and forms, web design, quality assurance testing, and deployment. We examine the system and collect information, analyze workflow processes, define business requirements, assess benefits and risks, recommend improvements, and support business process improvement. We perform back-end database development, maintain data replication capabilities, and perform database optimization. We provide Tier 1/2 help desk support.