Database Middleware for
Distributed Ontologies
in State and Federal Family & Social Services
Virginia Tech & Purdue University
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About the Project
This NSF-sponsored project is funded from a coordinated proposal from Virginia Tech and Purdue University. The project researchers will team up with state and federal agencies namely, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). For more details about the project, a presentation can be downloaded here. Aims
The aim of the project is to enable the citizens of Indiana get timely information from local, state, and federal governments. The emphasis is on helping those citizens that are in most need of the help: unemployed, children, people with disabilities and single mothers. The disadvantaged citizens would have most of their needs satisfied in one single meeting. Social workers would be able to access all necessary information using one single interface. The Rationale
Government welfare agencies typically consist of dozens of autonomous departments providing services to the needy and indigent citizens. They use a plethora of databases to manage and provide services and resources under their jurisdiction. One of the major problems facing these agencies is the use of isolated, heterogeneous and autonomous information systems that are hard to interoperate. The quality and cost-effectiveness of government services could tremendously be improved if techniques are available to access government and non-government databases in a seamless fashion. A Scenario
Collecting benefits is a time-consuming, frustrating, and complex process for needy citizens. As depicted in the figure below, the current system requires citizens to visit several offices in and outside the towns in which they reside to receive the benefits they are entitled to. In many cases, dealing with this process prevents the underprivileged citizens from devoting adequate time to enhancing their prospects for becoming self-supporting with a consequential harmful impact on their health and safety.
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Questions or Comments? Please send email to brahim@vt.edu |
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