In recent years, many industries have seen the arrival of innovative technologies that provide automation and can “consume” and manage massive volumes of data. Nowhere are those advances more important than for scientists working in complex specialties such as environmental data management.
If you’re an environmental scientist, you and your project colleagues not only have to handle large amounts of information on a daily basis, you’re often dealing with remote locations and the fact that your people themselves are not necessarily nearby. It’s a messy situation. But like all science-based pursuits, your work requires scrupulous accuracy in order to produce exceptional results.
Aren’t you glad environmental data management has changed dramatically in the last ten years?
It used to be cumbersome, to say the least.
You had to do everything by hand. It was slow. And it was repetitive. All the data you gathered in the field had to be recorded in notebooks and then re-entered into a computer back in the office. Hopefully you or your administrative support folks could read your handwriting.
You had to perform all those tedious math calculations. Converting metrics as you entered figures, so they would all be consistent. Computing formulas. Devising “what if” scenarios to analyze solutions. Over and over again.
You had to haul around copious supplies of documents, photos and maps associated with each project – flopping around loose or in heavy books and binders. And you had to revise maps and draw charts and graphics by hand to depict your site’s physical conditions.
You were constantly wrestling with an assortment of mis-matched software applications that offered poor-to-no coordination. It was often difficult to find the information you needed, and then it was often in the wrong format. All too often, you had to dig up an dusty box in the basement to find important historical data or an old project file.
Collaboration was unwieldy. You had to email electronically-generated materials back and forth between team members so everyone could see them. Or, worse, you had to wait around for bulky documents to be shipped or endure the time and expense of attending face-to-face meetings where you could finally discuss project details.
Trying to juggle multiple environmental data management jobs simultaneously was just plain frustrating.
No longer.
Now, you use an environmental database management system — a single, comprehensive, software package specifically designed to facilitate and support the kind of environmental work you do every day.
Finally, you have technology that automates data entry, instantly capturing information electronically from the field or anywhere else and stashing it in a central database. You can establish an archival database from existing information and visuals, then continuously add to it, using historical information and previously successful remedies to devise new solutions without duplicating work.
Everyone associated with your project can retrieve information whenever and wherever they need it. You can collaborate virtually, rather than waiting around for meetings or the mail.
Finally, you have technology that performs all manner of calculations. Your highly-skilled professionals are free to do the creative thinking necessary to arrive at top-notch solutions, armed with detailed data and the system’s unlimited ability to run complex queries and provide lighting-fast results.
Finally, you have technology that interacts effortlessly with the latest graphics and mapping applications. You can quickly create two-dimensional or 3D renderings that show whatever you need to see, above or below the surface. Visuals that help even the non-scientists on your team easily grasp the situation.
And you can create any type or format of customized report you want.
So let’s year it for today’s environmental data management system. You can work faster and more accurately than ever before, making more productive use of skilled personnel and working closely with your colleagues to devise the best solutions. Bet you don’t miss the old days. Ask us for a free EDMS Demo.