The citizens of the City of San Antonio in the US are being kept informed regarding traffic and crime via the Web and the beauty is updated information is available 24 hours a day through the police department`s website.
The project was initiated as the Department identified the need to put real-time traffic information on the Web. Local radio stations providing traffic updates were constantly calling the police department for up-top-the-minute accounts, a time-consuming distraction when the priority is to protect citizens and respond quickly to emergencies.
Recognising the need to keep commuters informed without interfering with police activities, Mark Kozielski, police department systems manager, had the idea to take traffic information from the mainframe and put it directly on the Web.
Kozielski turned to the City`s information services department, who had relied on software vendor Software AG for over 20 years.
"When we told Software AG we wanted to put active traffic data on the Web, they offered to come in and install their Web-enabling technology solution iXpress and demonstrate it for us," recalls Joyce Maguire, the City`s information systems project supervisor. "They said: `We`ll show you how quick and easy it is`, and they were right. They came in, and within three days, Software AG and the City had the traffic system up and running.
"Once it was out there, people in the police department were hooked," observes Maguire. "It was supposed to be a test application, but before we knew it, they had given out the Web address. So then the radio stations were hooked on it, and we put it into production almost immediately."
When 911 calls reporting traffic accidents or other emergencies come into the police department, the information is logged immediately onto the mainframe, where it resides in Software AG Adabas files. Through iXpress, the necessary information is transferred to the Web.
Maguire says the solution provides a offers a cost-effective method for providing citizens with information that was previously difficult or even impossible to disseminate
Now, in addition to traffic data for radio stations, the information citizens want regarding criminal activity is also available on the Web. Says the police department`s Kozielski: "We couldn`t get iXpress out there fast enough. Once people saw what kind of information they could get, they loved it! In fact, this is just the start of it.
"iXpress will help keep citizens informed. They want to know what`s happening in their neighbourhoods, for example, burglaries and arrests, or people who are considering moving to a new area want to know what the crime statistics are there. iXpress will let us share this information with the public. Essentially, we`re bypassing the paper and not having to depend on the body to get the information out there. And the faster we get it out there, the better off everyone will be.
The fact that iXpress is both easy to use and allows the City to leverage its existing systems is enabling San Antonio to rapidly deliver information to the public. "A lot of our mainframe data is very valuable," says Maguire. "We do not want to re-write or re-invent a system when we already have the data and the Natural code available and with iXpress, we don`t have to. In addition, much of our previous experience has been with the mainframe, and we don`t have the time or the resources to teach everyone the Web language of HTML. iXpress actually generates HTML for you."
Maguire continues: "Software AG worked with us, just as they have for many years. In addition to having Adabas and Natural on the mainframe, we`ve installed Entire Broker on the mainframe to leverage existing applications and data, and iXpress and EntireX Broker ActiveX Control on an NT Web server to get the information out there.
"iXpress is easy to use," observes Maguire. "It is the only product I know of that lets you easily take your active Adabas mainframe data and put it on the Web. It`s ideal for us."
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