In a world where government departments are under considerable pressure to improve their capability, while under significant financial pressure, the increase in data made available to them for management and analysis provides both a challenge and an opportunity. Agility DataBroker, a computer software framework from Arjuna, provides government with a mechanism to solve current data-related problems, while establishing a framework that allows for future innovation and comprehensive analysis.
Agility DataBroker can be initially used for integrating as few as two silos of information, but can scale to an enterprise-wide application.
Central government consists of a number of semi-autonomous departments each of which serves the same group of people from a different perspective. As a result of this segmentation, data can be duplicated, errors can proliferate, money can be wasted and decisions are often made without access to the information embedded in the data available. Joined-up thinking is difficult without joined-up data to base it on.
The requirement for good management of data is increased by the Freedom of Information Act. The Data.gov.uk project is designed to address this problem using technology that includes the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN). However, the main purpose of this project is to publish and distribute data for external use rather than for internal analysis. Agility DataBroker allows for data to be extracted from any combination of data sources, whether they sit in the Cloud or locally, under strictly enforced, but dynamically changeable service agreements which govern its use and deployment. Once access to data is consolidated, new services can be easily introduced.
Data may be collated from across multiple government departments, in different forms, under the strict conditions of release imposed by each department. Resultant data can be cross-checked with external data sources e.g local authority data to better extract meaningful information. For example, suspected terrorist information can be cross-referenced to local authority databases to determine where they currently reside; benefit claimants can be cross-referenced to the Registrar for Births Deaths and Marriages (GRO) to determine which current claimants are actually deceased. In a world where the amount of data is growing faster than government can use it, Agility DataBroker provides a mechanism to improve services, cut down on waste, and generate information that is meaningful and usable.
Agility DataBroker is a framework that allows an organization to unlock the value of data through its controlled consolidation, analysis and distribution. Agility DataBroker allows for data to be extracted from any combination of data sources, whether they sit in the Cloud or locally, under strictly enforced, but dynamically changeable service agreements which govern its use and deployment.
