The administration is in possession of comprehensive information resources, which must be put to more efficient use in the future, in order to achieve productivity goals etc. At the same time, reporting obligations e.g. towards the EU are continually increasing and changing.

Solution benefits

Result of the pre-study:

• Comprehensive and structured overview of the current state of environmental information
• Proposals for a future solution and operating models
• Proof of concept, confirming the functionality of the chosen technologies and suitable for use in the implementation of the data warehouse solution
• The experiences and materials resulting from the pre-study will support the ensuing implementation of the project

Projected results of the implementation:

• Serving users’ varied needs and the gathering of environmental information from various sources into a single place and form
• Consolidating regional and individual information at national level
• Common data warehouse provides a basis for existing and new information services
• Centralised storage and distribution reduces costs
• Reusable report forms, the easy creation of new reports and intuitive analysis tools facilitate efficient reporting
  
  

Customer’s current situation and challenges

Environmental matters are extremely topical and demand for information is high. The environmental administration must respond to such demand by supplying comprehensive environmental information services.

The administration is in possession of comprehensive information resources, which must be put to more efficient use in the future, in order to achieve productivity goals etc. At the same time, reporting obligations e.g. towards the EU are continually increasing and changing.

Efficient use of environmental data resources requires the equally efficient consolidation of information from various sources. At present, for example, reporting is hampered by scattered data warehouse and overlapping solutions. Reporting quality cannot always be guaranteed.

To counter these challenges, the Ministry of the Environment has initiated a project for developing the usage of environmental information resources, including research on the possible benefits of data warehouse and modern reporting tools.

Customer-specific solution offered by Digia

Digia conducted a pre-study of data warehouse solutions, which formed part of the second stage (TIVA2) of the environmental administration’s information resources development project.

The initial task involved charting the existing electronic environmental information services as well as the information and reporting needs of the most relevant stakeholders. At a later stage, reporting requirements were investigated further, paying particular regard to international reporting obligations.

The entire portfolio of potential content was reviewed together with the respective experts, in order to evaluate the suitability of the available storage solutions for different types of material and to discern how the utilisation of these materials might be improved through centralised storage.

To confirm the functionality of the suggested solutions, the pre-study was accompanied by a proof of concept, which included the successful implementation of a solution based on the recommended technologies.

The result of the project, the comprehensive documentation and analysis of the main stakeholders’ needs and demands, provides the basis for the development of the future data warehouse solution. The concept model for the storage solution was obtained from analysing the information resources. In addition, Digia suggested a possible data and system architecture for the future, and ways of improving the efficiency of reporting processes with the help of reporting tools. The data warehouse and reporting demands identified during the project were summarised in a specification of requirements. The final report of the project included a brief presentation of the main results, estimates regarding the implementation of the data warehouse project and recommendations for the future utilisation of information resources.

Slender, functional solutions

“The project was carried out in the spring of 2009. The work was very intensive, but we adhered to the schedule, kept on top of the tasks in hand and enjoyed a great atmosphere and team spirit”, comments Project Manager Jorma Sipilä of the Finnish Environment Institute.

“The demands set by the Ministry of the Environment and the EU are challenging and can be changed at short notice. For this reason, our model’s reporting functions are easy to adapt”, says Senior Manager Lasse Oz of Digia. “The result is a slender and functional solution enabling SYKE to work more efficiently in the future.”

Applied technology

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 database
• SQL Server 2008 Integration Services (SSIS), Analysis Services (SSAS) and Reporting Services (SSRS)
• ESRI ArcGIS Server 9.3 location data technology