An office of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH] was given a mandate from the U.S. Congress and the Centers for Disease Control to implement a program of compensation for employees of atomic weapons manufacturers as well as individuals employed in various nuclear energy-related jobs. One portion of the data collection process was managed by an offsite team operating independently from the project’s IT management. This offsite group developed a data acquisition process that relied upon the use of Excel Workbooks. The workbooks were adequate for single case reviews, but were unsuited to viewing data in the aggregate or gathering basic statistical information.
I worked with this government client to clarify their longer-term research needs and to establish a data model and set of requirements that would allow for the aggregation and restructuring of the data so that they would be compatible with, and more useful to, the ongoing activities of the organization.