Summary Description 
Overview | Platforms,technical architecture | Type of users | Usage of the web-form | Availability

Overview

Since Internet is accelerating change and create many new opportunities and since Internet is becoming the new communication medium with the public, National Institute of  Statistics, Belgium (NIS) has decided to build Web-based Applications for the collection of statistical data, using the CASE tool COOL:Gen (Computer Associates). A pilot project eProdcom was initiated at the beginning of 2000; the aim is to collect statistical information for the Prodcom Statistic (monthly statistic in Belgium) related to the Industrial production in Belgium. There exist 6 different forms depending of the industrial activity sector.

Besides the functional objectives which are more related to the existing application, this project has the following three objectives:

• To prove that the technology to take MVS transactions to the Web works;
• To set out a path to acquire the knowledge to implement projects like this;
• To prepare for future similar projects by setting standards and procedures.

Technically the application has a 3-tier architecture:

• The Front-End:
  • Webbrowsers displaying the HTML-pages that represent the PRODCOM forms;
  • WebApplication must function on different flavors of Webbrowsers, eg. IE, NetScape.
• The Middle-Tier:
  • The WebServer is IIS;
  • The WebApplication's navigation logic is implemented in ASP-pages;
  • Using COOL:Gen's COM-proxies, the ASP-pages can access business logic.
• The Back-End:
  • The business logic is implemented in COOL:Gen transactions (Server Load Modules); these load modules reuse existing business logic used already in the on-line PRODCOM application;
  • The production data store is MVS/DB2.

The PSI corresponds to the local unit of the enterprise. The criteria to participate to the survey are number of employees >= 10 or turnover > = 100 mio BEF.

Usage of the web-form

Around 7000 PSIs are targetted for the Prodcom statistics in Belgium.

Availability

ePRODCOM being in experimental phasis, information is not provided about its availability.
 

Source document containing the complete description

Doc. CoRD 024: "A brief outline on existing data collection tools and new developments at National Institute of Statistics of Belgium"