Information Technology Battelle Team Supports
ETC2’s Information Technology Needs

The Environmental Technology Commercialization Center (ETC2) was established to enhance the ability of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to bring cutting-edge environmental technologies developed by EPA laboratories to private sector firms (see cover story). To carry out its mission, the Center will have to provide its clients with information on:

  • Solutions to technical problems;
  • Cost-effective business assistance; and
  • New opportunities and leading-edge technologies.
The ability to effectively provide this information demands that ETC2 have a dependable and progressive Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. Battelle’s IT professionals have been assisting ETC2 in the development of such an infrastructure and will continue to help ETC2 finalize a comprehensive database that identifies all EPA patents and licenses and tracks the establishment of cooperative agreements. This central database will be at the heart of the dynamic ETC2 Web site, where potential clients can “mine” for innovative technologies and learn about the benefits of ETC2’s services. To ensure that ETC2’s clients receive efficient and effective service, many of Battelle’s IT specialists have pooled their talents to build the new Web site. Programmers are utilizing their expertise to implement Web-based user interfaces to MS Access and future MS SQL Server databases. Graphic design software tools will be used to give the site a professional look and feel. Battelle, with its ability to support secure, reliable, and high-performance Web-based applications, will host the site.

These technologies provide EPA and ETC2 new ways to reach the companies they seek to assist. These same technologies can be used to gather and disseminate information between the EPA and ETC2 staff. Battelle will use Web technologies to streamline the transfer of information between EPA labs across the country and the ETC2 databases. In the past, IT systems addressing the problem of multiple business entities at multiple locations often depended on mass distribution of software and/or data. Such systems were often plagued with performance, installation, compatibility, and maintenance issues. Now, needing only a Web browser, the EPA and ETC2 partners will be relieved from this headache.

While Web-based applications are ideal for meeting the communication challenges described above, there is also a need to provide the ETC2 staff with powerful desktop tools for internal reporting and analysis. Battelle staff will use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to provide robust internal interfaces to the data. Using VBA to automate the sharing of data among the Microsoft Office suite of products will allow ETC2 staff to view information using software tools with which they are already familiar and comfortable. For example, they will be able to view contact information obtained from the Web in MS Outlook and view various summary reports with MS Access.

For more information, please contact Jill Raudabaugh at (614) 424-3497 or via e-mail at raudabaugh@battelle.org.

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