Integrated data bases for municipal decision-making

Abstract

The development of information for decision-making in municipalities requires integration of data from the various operational files which are generated in local government. Even when an integrated municipal data base does not exist, it is possible to develop integrated data from properly structured source files in conjunction with a well-maintained reference file, such as a Geographic Base File. The current sources of information developed in municipalities, in particular the property data of the tax assessor function and the operating files of various service delivery functions, provide a rich source of information, augmented by special collections such as the U.S. Census. Data Extraction is the process of developing integrated data subsets from diverse source files to support interactive problem solving. Extraction provides the interface between large data bases of source files and problem solving systems through data matching, subsetting and aggregation functions. Our experience with GADS has shown that data extraction is useful when the user or problem characteristics require access to varying amounts, detail, and selection of data, and conversational (rapid response) interaction with a problem solving system. These characteristics are likely to be encountered when designing problem solving systems for nonprogrammer, professional users working on unstructured problems. The data extraction interface matches the functional and response time requirements of interactive problem solving, can be implemented on a variety of computer system configurations, and can reduce the operating costs of the problem solving system. Because data extraction operations can produce multiple extracted data bases, with different structures, a single data extraction interface can support multiple problem solving systems. In addition, existing problem solving systems can be supported and enhanced by data extraction without major program revisions.