A Data Solution and a Foundation for Growth — SIMS Designed for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
By working together with Windsor Solutions, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) now has a holistic view of the agency's environmental data, as well a modern foundation for growth.
Background
The DEP turned to Windsor Solutions for our help in creating a complete picture of regulated activities across their programs that provides a greater understanding of these activities and how they relate to each other.
Since 1971 the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has managed almost every aspect of the Connecticut outdoors. Their mission is to conserve and improve natural resources and the environment in order to protect public health, safety, and welfare while preserving and enhancing the quality of life for present and future generations.
Several of DEP's programs have made history by setting the national tone for environmental management. Connecticut's Clean Water Act, enacted in 1967, was used as one of the models for the landmark Federal Water Pollution Control Act Ammendment of 1972. In 1982, Connecticut was the first state in the nation to open a materials recycling facility. Connecticut continues to set the national pace in wetland restoration with over 1,500 acres restored to date.
The Challenge Presented
The DEP collects and maintains an enormous amount of data about the environment and the businesses and activities that affect it. When they contacted Windsor Solutions, their information was being stored in many different forms and locations: databases, diskettes, logbooks, spreadsheets, documents, central file room, office file cabinets, individual desk drawers. This made it extremely difficult for other business units to be aware of the information or have a means to obtain it.
In addition, the completeness, quality control, accuracy, and accessibility of data were not consistent. With all of the numerous forms, information storage issues, and significant data incompatibility, staff did not have all of the right information and data, nor did they have the ability to access it quickly and easily.
In order to make the right environmental decisions, DEP staff needed to see a complete picture of regulated activities across all program lines and disciplines. The limitations of their current systems inhibited the successful analysis necessary to support decision-making.
DEP's information systems served program-specific, single-discipline, regulatory requirements. This not only restricted the ability to complete effective analyses, but reduced data quality and functionality. It also required separate data entry, query and analysis because the different departments and disciplines were not connected and could not "talk" to one another. A further complication was that program staff had developed more stand-alone information management systems when central systems became either too difficult to access or navigate.
DEP needed to bring its various sources of information together to develop a Cross-discipline perspective.
Windsor at Work: Our Solution
We worked in tandem with DEP to develop a large-scale, browser-based system that manages information and activities of environmental interest in the state of Connecticut.
First, we produced a high-level design outline that was confirmed with DEP stakeholders before beginning any design activities. We used a similar approach for development tasks with two separate releases of the system being developed and deployed for user testing. We did this before scheduling the final version for implementation in the agency's production environment.
Initial project tasks included:
- Gathering requirements
- A comprehensive planning effort
- The creation of a detailed design based on gathered requirements
Screen shots of SIMS application, click for details.
The Site Information Management System (SIMS) was founded on an integrated database containing data migrated from a number of DEP systems that supported program activities. Information in this integrated database includes:
- Site information for permits and applications
- Client information for permits and applications
- Enforcement actions
- Underground storage tank registrations
The system pilot, launched in August 2006, was developed using HTML and Microsoft VB.Net with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 as the data server. ESRI ArcIMS was used for the GIS capabilities, and FileNet Content Services was used for Document Management services.
Future phases of this solution will incorporate data from other DEP regulatory programs. A comprehensive Extract Transform & Load (ETL) Suite has been developed to ensure that data in the existing systems is properly migrated to the integrated database. SIMS consists of a number of different applications providing DEP staff with the ability to:
- Search for and reconcile likely duplicate sites and clients
- Perform comprehensive inquiries and report on the results
- Represent site information geographically, using a web-based spatial viewer
- Manage and view documents related to a particular environmental interest
DEP's long-term vision for the SIMS is as an integrated replacement for the existing systems that data is currently being migrated from. With this in mind, DEP has contracted Windsor to create a number of additional SIMS applications to serve as fully integrated replacements for existing systems.
Results That Reward
Windsor's solution to this project provides DEP with several benefits:
- A holistic, multi-discipline view of agency environmental data
- Integrated access to documentation through the use of document management
- Integrated visibility to geospatial factors through the use of ESRI tools
- A reduced data entry burden on agency staff
- A modern, flexible foundation for future integration of agency data