Information system for The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine

Information system for The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine that collects and analyzes financial and statistical data on the activities of higher education institutions.

Why They Chose Us

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine approached us with a task to develop an information system that collects and analyzes financial and statistical data on the activities of higher education institutions.

Due to the unsatisfactory performance of the previous contractor, the client searched for a new contractor with expertise in real-time data processing. Our company was recommended to the client and our relevant experience in creating dashboards, charts, and reports convinced the client to choose us for the project.

Our task was to create a system that would efficiently collect, process, and store data, as well as generate reports. The data was to be collected from three systems: the Unified State Electronic Database on Education, the Automated System of the State Treasury Service, and the Unified Information System Science at Universities. The objective was to improve the IT infrastructure in the Ministry of Education and Science, and enable effective decision-making based on reliable and relevant data.

What Challenge Needed to be Solved?

Our goal was to create an efficient system for collecting reliable, relevant, evidence-based financial and other data on the system of indicators needed for decision-making. We had to structure the data and reports within 10 seconds, and exclude the human factor working with reports to save time for potential users of the system. The array of necessary financial and operational statistical information collected in one place in the context of individual universities, educational levels, and specialties would help decision-makers analyze the universities' financial state and the effectiveness of their budget funds usage, and plan the costs of higher education.

What Obstacles Did We Encounter?

We encountered the obstacle of collecting data from multiple sources in real-time, processing them in large volumes, and generating reports promptly. Some of the data sources did not have their own API, so we had to resort to alternative data extraction methods.

The biggest difficulty was that the initial technical requirement was to collect data from sources where APIs were readily available. However, it turned out that not all government agencies were willing to provide APIs quickly, and we had to extract data from sources such as text and Excel files.

We had to validate, structure, and store the data, as well as generate reports based on them. The format of data exchange was not completely agreed upon by some of the other government agencies that the Ministry of Education and Science interacted with.

The Ministry of Education and Science assumed that data collection would be easy, but it was not. There were various formalities that needed to be fulfilled to share data with others, and it would have taken a long time to create APIs. We couldn't afford to wait, so we had to find ways to collect data and deliver the project on time.

What Should the Ideal Solution Look Like?

Our ideal solution should be able to efficiently collect data, process it, store it, and create reports. The system should also structure the data and reports within 10 seconds and exclude the human factor working with reports to save time for potential users of the system.

We insisted on using OLAP technology because it enables multidimensional analysis of data, allowing us to identify trends and patterns more easily. By utilizing OLAP, the system can generate dynamic reports quickly and provide real-time insights to users, which empowers them to make informed decisions based on up-to-date information. This approach ensures that our solution is efficient, effective, and able to meet the needs of our clients.

What Technologies Have We Chosen and Why?

We chose a microservice architecture, with the project consisting of three servers, each of which performed its task: server served the web infrastructure, server served the database and Hadoop, and server provided backup. The project technologies included Mysql, Redis, RabbitMQ, Hadoop, Laravel & Python, Talend Open Studio, and Vue, Vuex, Vuetify, SPA.

Applied Technologies

Back-end: The project technologies included Mysql, Redis, RabbitMQ, Hadoop, Laravel & Python, Talend Open Studio

Front-end: Vue, Vuex, Vuetify, SPA

How Did We Implement the Project?

We implemented the project in five stages:

  • business analysis and project study,
  • architecture design and API integration,
  • MVP development,
  • report creation mechanism development,
  • testing and presentation.

Result

The system we developed is highly effective in collecting reliable and relevant financial and operational statistical data, which is crucial for decision-making. The data is collected from various universities, educational levels, and specialties, and stored in one centralized location. This makes it easier for decision-makers to access the necessary information, analyze the financial state of universities, and evaluate the effectiveness of budget funds usage. With this system, decision-makers can plan the costs of higher education in a more informed and efficient manner.

We took our national education analytics system to the next level by digitizing it. Our team successfully parsed over 9 gigabytes of data at once and generated reports based on that data.Thanks to our expertise in this area, our team successfully tackled all tasks and challenges on time.