The University of Victoria Genome British Columbia Proteomics Centre is a state-of-the-art proteomics research facility located in Victoria, BC. The Centre approached Caorda Solutions to help design and build a database and web application to solve data entry and analysis issues with the immense amount of data that their labs generate.
At the time, the Centre was tracking results from various projects via multiple Excel spreadsheets. Storing data in disparate sheets did not permit any potential for aggregation or reporting on data. It also leads to numerous examples of inefficient duplication of data entry. The workflow with their projects is complex with different data needing to be entered for various stages of the project. This also opened up the process to a high level of vulnerability to data loss and entry errors without a sufficient backup structure in place.
A highly detailed requirements process was undertaken to allow Caorda to understand and document the workflow of how the lab projects progress from start to finish. The requirements then outlined what data was required in each stage. The application was designed to follow the lab workflow such that data would be entered and status changes would dictate when the next set of data fields would be exposed and ready for input. By removing the need for various spreadsheets and consolidating all the relevant data into one database, the Centre has been able to improve reporting with custom reports and data extracts.
Over the past years, the system has been further enhanced with new functionality to allow the bulk upload of data, we incorporated a public access interface, and added new fields, data, and workflow to match advances within the lab. The application has become a key tool within the lab for data entry, analysis and exposure to clients and peer groups.
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