Data integration for Government agencies has been a challenge since well before the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, having an incoherent data integration process is proving to be especially challenging. Government agencies are tasked with collecting, integrating, and analyzing vast amounts of data from diverse sources. Time is of the essence. To build policies and plans to lower the curve, send supplies, ensure citizens are safe, and save lives during the pandemic, these agencies must gain an accurate picture of the situation in real-time. 

Capabilities needed to manage the current crisis:

1. Connecting Legacy and Cloud IT Systems for a Complete View

Government agencies have been slower to adapt to data integration. Often relying on legacy systems with siloed applications, spreadsheets, and non-cloud-based mechanisms. This makes reporting on critical insights for hospitals, nursing homes, and medical providers very difficult. While trying to modernize their systems, some organizations have adopted modern data management solutions. This presents a real need to connect and integrate data into a single source to gain a unified view.

2. Managing Large Data Volumes

Incredibly high volumes of data are surging into state, local, tribal and territorial governments. Agencies must constantly analyze and re-analyze this data in order to come up with the most effective measures to take. This makes it important that the data integration strategy can scale without bottlenecks, move large amounts of data rapidly, and that data can be accessed quickly. Providing fast, high-performance reporting and analytics. 

3. Ensuring Data Integrity

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of data integrity when managing the COVID-19 crisis. In the UK last Fall, close to 16,000 positive Coronavirus cases were misplaced due to an Excel spreadsheet error. This means more than 50,000 potentially infectious people may have been missed by contact tracers and not told to self-isolate. An efficient integration strategy includes ways of ensuring data is up-to-the-minute for accurate critical insights when miscalculations can risk lives.

4. Keeping Data Secure and Compliant

To protect the health and trust of its citizens, Government agencies must ensure their data strategy is foolproof. Managing the COVID-19 crisis involves a lot of sensitive data- like personal contact information and healthcare data. The pandemic also brings opportunities for fraudulent activity, with inevitable attempts to take advantage or game the system. Government agencies have to guard against improper payments and fraudulent activity related to the massive stimulus package. In addition to ensuring funding reaches those citizens, health organizations, and businesses that need them the most. Lastly, keeping data private and protected maintains public trust, an important factor during a crisis.

Relational Junction: An All-in-One Data Integration Solution

Organizations across the globe are using Sesame Software’s Relational Junction data management solution. Relational Junction offers efficient and streamlined data integration for Government agencies. By replicating and consolidating data from different sources into a single reporting data warehouse, organizations are provided with a cohesive data source for insights. High-volume data connectors easily integrate and the patented multithreaded technology ensures data is moving at the fastest possible speed. Relational Junction’s automated data syncs keep data fresh for accurate reporting and the solution is fully compliant, ensuring data security.

While we don’t know what the future holds concerning COVID-19, we do know that Government agencies face challenges with leveraging data to manage the current crisis. To learn more about how Relational Junction can provide streamlined data integration for Government agencies, request a demo with the Sesame team.