F R I D A Y , J U L Y 3 0 , 2 0 0 4
Solving the Problem of Translating and Transporting Geospatial Data Across Disparate Data Recources
With a Demonstration Using the Real Metro Atlanta Data
MICHAEL WORKMAN
Technology Advisor, Object Innovation, Inc.
Regardless of the business or industry sector, organizations need to share information within and among business entities; but organizations are constrained by the various disparate technologies with which information is created and stored. Organizations are struggling to merge data and expose information that have become isolated in departmental systems (known as the islands of information problem).
According to the Aberdeen Group, information exchange among these departments, and among trading partners, consumes on average 30% of the value chain distribution of a mid-sized organization from redundant labor, redundant systems,and paper transactions. The opportunity cost accompanying the lack of visibility of information is unknown, but is estimated to be substantial. There are various approaches to solving the islands of information problem, each with pros and cons. Dr. Workman will present some of these contemporary approaches in light of emerging trends toward loose coupling, layering, and technology and data independence.
The linear/procedural approach to software development has long been recognized as an inhibitor of software extensibility and efficiency. Although object-oriented programming languages have been around for two decades, the accompanying object-oriented methodology has been lacking in much of the software applications where legacy programmers merely tried to implement the old linear way of programming using a object-oriented language. More recently, the true benefits of the combined OO language and methodology has been realized, just in time for two additional revolutions -- component-based objects and design patterns. Component-based objects are interchangeable objects, and design patterns are techniques used to address common software design problems that have been recognized over the years. Two such important patterns are layering and model-2. Layering enables functions to build on each component's functionality without having to know the internal workings of a layer. Model-2 separates presentation, control, and data logic so that these functions can be distributed both vertically and horizontally, gaining a true n-tier implementation.