Sybase Nominates Smithsonian "Heroes"
The Smithsonian Institution is seeking "heroes of the mind" in its annual "Search for New Heroes" award program. Begun in 1989, the program identifies people and organizations that are at the forefront of the technological revolution and records their "heroic" actions for others to build on.
By Alan Karls
Andrew Cardno didn't know he was going to be a hero; he was just responding to a business need.
Telstra-the sole official telecommunications provider of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games-was faced with handling hundreds of thousands of mobile phone calls from visitors and athletes each day during the Olympics. The demand would vary geographically each day, depending on event location, and have sudden surges in different areas within the system. Telstra needed a technology that would provide real-time information on cell traffic to allow it to adjust its new mobile cell site system to meet demand.
Sybase nominated Compudigm International in the 2001 Computerworld Smithsonian Search for New Heroes program for the solution it produced for Telstra. Established in 1989, the Smithsonian program identifies people and organizations that are leading the information technology revolution with solutions that change the world.
Since 1991, when Sybase began participating in the program, 185 Sybase customers have been nominated for the prestigious award, 21 have achieved finalist status, and 4 have been category winners.
This year, Sybase has nominated people and firms for advances in healthcare and in war criminal tracking; in one-time event solutions and in trailblazing the future; in creature comfort and in worldwide commerce-in all cases, for making life better. That is heroism today.
Diverse
Solutions
For the Olympics, Telstra saw the benefits of Compudigm's seePOWER, a revolutionary
data visualization technology, powered by Sybase's Adaptive Server IQ Multiplex,
that converts data almost instantly into fluid visual contour images and thematic
maps. Cardno, Compudigm's president, adapted seePOWER to handle the challenge
of the Olympics.
"seePOWER allowed us to quickly identify our network traffic surges and manage the huge volumes of information we needed in order to keep our system operating at peak performance," says Anthony Goonan, New South Wales regional manager for Telstra. "The visual maps let our network managers quickly make decisions on how to allocate our network resources to meet demand without spending extra time analyzing the data.
" Despite demand averaging around 720,000 minutes of telephone conversations daily, Telstra handled all Olympic demands without incident.
Whereas Compudigm's endeavors were related to an event, e2Home received a nomination from Sybase for making science fiction concepts a reality. e2Home's challenge was to develop an intelligent home in which terminals and mobile phones control household devices. The resulting system has been successfully tested in a prototype and lab environment and will be installed in 450 apartment buildings at the beginning of 2001. Sybase has been integral in this exciting time for e2Home, says Malte Lilliestrale, e2Home's manager of strategic development, "When Sybase discusses future development and architecture, my colleagues sit down and listen."
Among Sybase's other nominees were organizations and individuals who had created new solutions for old and ongoing problems.
For example, the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) had 16,666 probationers, 4,000 parolees, and 1,000 correction center cases scattered statewide among 83 counties, 3 administrative regions, and 42 prisons. It had a cumbersome, inefficient paper log process for tracking individuals. Agents had to research prior records, courts, law enforcement agencies, and prisons to calculate sentencing and attempt statewide uniformity of sentencing.
MDOC needed a more efficient and accurate system, so MDOC Project Manager Gary Stockman came to Sybase, which helped MDOC build a new system.
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Despite demand averaging
around 720,000 minutes of telephone conversations daily, Telstra handled
all Olympic demands without incident.
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Up and operating in less than three months, the new system gives agents access to real-time information and lets them analyze court sentencing practices, monitor the performance of parolees, and manage their caseloads more effectively. In addition, the system extends the information statewide to judges, court staff, district attorneys, and others who previously lacked access.
Says Stockman, "Previously, we never had a centralized database. But now agents are making better use of their time, getting better information on offenders, and doing a better job of prioritizing their workloads."
Like MDOC, nominee Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) needed a better way to track individuals, in this case, war criminals. Canada wanted to prevent them from receiving visas or landed immigrant status. CIC had a rudimentary system in which information on war criminals was stored on a mainframe-based system that required operators to search for information by exact name. Information was conveyed via fax and phone.
Ken Sosnoski, acting director of corporate systems, wanted to provide Canadian immigration officers complete and up-to-date information via a worldwide intranet. This new system will give CIC's 60 missions worldwide immediate access to the war criminal database in the mainframe and let them search for individuals by name, alias, event, date, organization, and location. The correlation between data items provided by the new system increases the value of the information. Users can determine the connection between an individual and an atrocity based on information other than name alone. "The new system," according to Sosnoski, "provides value-added information on a worldwide basis that protects the people of Canada by preventing war criminals from entering the country."
Another nominee had to keep track of ships, not people.
The busiest port in the world, Singapore, has more than 800 vessels in port at any one time, with one arriving or departing every two minutes. The vessels need authorizations, maintenance, and provisions and need to be loaded and unloaded. Service providers at the port must keep apprised of ship traffic to prepare for and respond to needs of the port's users. The port itself must track the movement and oversee the regulatory requirements of each ship and shipment.
Sybase nominated MPA for moving these operations to the Internet. The resulting system, Marinet, allows speedy processing of shipping documents and ordering of services and disseminates information by the minute to every player in the shipping industry. It provides wireless interaction between MPA, shipping lines, and service providers. Marinet, an immediate success, significantly reduces paperwork and increases efficiency and information flow. It has attracted more than 2,000 subscribers in more than 480 companies in its first months of operation.
North of Singapore, the Asian bond market in Hong Kong, which suffered severe setbacks in the 1998 financial crisis, needed a better way to do things. In a market that covered many countries, currencies, economic conditions, and forms of government, there was no centralized bond trading location or information. Transactions were done mostly by telephone or e-mail. Professional investors were unable to react quickly to protect their assets.
Sybase nominated Asiabondportal.com (ABP) for its work in developing a bond trading Web site that overcomes these difficulties and expands the trading process to more players.
ABP makes it easier to find information, obtain bond price information, do research on companies and bonds, and execute trades. It also provides daily news, research, and a comprehensive Asian bond database. Because it is based on Internet technology, it does not require leased lines, special hardware, or software.
"Bond trading in Asia will never be the same," says Jiffriy Chandra, a fund manager. "The benefits of online bond trading via asiabondportal.com will be apparent to other investors once they have experienced the ease, convenience, and efficiency of ABP's trading system."
Another nominee was recognized by Sybase for developing more efficient and accurate patient care.
Historically, the use of paper-based prescriptions led to significant efficiency and accuracy problems. As many as 40 percent of all prescriptions require rework or phone calls between the pharmacist and doctor to clarify prescriptions or insurance information. Sybase nominated iScribe, a healthcare technology company, for developing a handheld, wireless system that enables mobile healthcare professionals to work more efficiently, accurately, and safely at the point of care. The iScribe system saves physicians, pharmacists, and payors time and money by automating functions previously handled inefficiently with paper and pen, and by reducing redundant data entry and multiple telephone calls. For patients, the iScribe system may significantly reduce medication errors and even save lives.
"We recognize that physicians need many options to best fit the needs of their practice, including access to wireless prescribing services and critical information accessible at the point of care," says Dana Cambra, VP of engineering at iScribe. "We provide physicians with an innovative tool that enables them to achieve tangible improvements in providing patient care."
Other Sybase nominees and their groundbreaking solutions are detailed in the accompanying table.
The number and ingenuity of this year's nominees make it clear that Sybase customers are at the leading edge of creative systems solutions that advance the use of technology for the benefit of mankind. They are heroes for today and tomorrow.
Banking on Compudigm
Just four years ago, cash-strapped Andrew Cardno; his wife, Karen; and his partner, Craig Soper, "hot-seated" (took turns at sharing) a single computer in Cardno's living room to get their software consulting business going.
Today, Cardno estimates that the business, Compudigm International, is worth $150 million. Wellington, New Zealand-based, Compudigm employs 85 people and is in a dynamic strategic partnership with Sybase, Inc. The reason for the partnership is Compudigm's seePOWER data visualization technology, which is supported by Sybase's Adaptive Server IQ Multiplex (IQ-M). seePOWER was originally designed for retailing, says Cardno, but got its first major boost from Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. Adaptations of seePOWER make it particularly applicable not only for gaming but also for telecommunications and financial services, says Cardno.
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Andrew Cardno, Compudigm International's president. |
The partnership with Sybase will enable Sybase to continue its focus on innovative online e-Business and e-Commerce solutions, while Compudigm will provide technical resources through its newly created development center.
Cardno sees a future where seePOWER and IQ-M are embedded into one solution. "IQ-M is a phenomenal engine," he says. "We tried other databases, and none matched what IQ-M can do." Installation time of seePOWER solutions is reduced now to a matter of months, rather than years, and hardware requirements are hugely reduced so that seePOWER becomes more affordable.
Cardno describes his company's relationship with Sybase as "incredible" and says it all began because Sybase was willing to work with a small company. "Sybase was there to help us," he says appreciatively.
Cardno is loyal, a man with a long memory for those who support him. He remembers leaving his home as a 10-year-old in Te Anau in the south of New Zealand's South Island, near Milford Sound, for a day visit by bus to the city of Christchurch. There he soon spent his money playing video games, leaving himself without enough cash for the bus ride back home.
He went to his bank, where he had a savings account. Even though he knew his account number by heart and it all checked out, staff there refused to give him the $5 he asked for, because he did not have his bank book.
He demanded to see the manager. After a wait, the official appeared and Cardno repeated his story. The manager listened sympathetically, and when Cardno finished, the manager handed him $5 from his own pocket. It was a portent of things to come. Since then, at least one other banker has smiled favorably on Cardno. Clients of Credit Suisse First Boston's Australian investment banking firm have a 10 percent stake in Compudigm.-CF
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Smithsonian Awards Nominees This year's nominees occupy a variety of fields Banco Nacional de
Mexico BeyondNow Technologies
Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Rhode Island Citigroup GeoDyn Research Group,
Inc. Goldman Sachs
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infolio, Inc. MediNotes National Imaging Associates
NJ Departmen Of Health
Prometric Thomson
Learning Prudential Bache Hong
Kong PupNet |
ReadyScript, Inc.
Survivors of the Shoah
Visual History Foundation SYNAVANT, Inc.
Perenso Texas Department of
Mental Health and Mental Retardation UNICEF Verizon |