Flowcharts bridging worlds
Our "Flowcharts bridging worlds"
application charts the relationship between infant mortality
provided by UNICEF and the world development indicators supplied
by the World Bank. Reducing infant mortality is the fourth of the
Millennium Development Goals.
Without further programming, these
two and many other data sets can be used in this application. The
import feature enables the user to import any data provided in
comma separated value text files (csv).
With "Flowcharts bridging worlds" we
want to show a new way to program custom applications. On one hand
enabling end users to create their own applications using the
World Bank or other data sets as sources, to raise awareness of
the Millennium Development Goals. On the other hand to create and
use custom applications as tools effectively contributing to the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals .
Custom applications are programmed by
composing flowcharts, which are compiled and deployed as software
features on the online service platform. Custom software can be
used as tools supporting work in the area of business, government
and schools. The three biggest challenges faced by ICT to be used
as an effective tool in our work to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals are:
1. Cost of programming - usually done
be a small group of people, called developers.
2. Difficulty of copying a custom application and adapting just a
few software features.
3. The ease of deployment and delivery.
ad 1. Flowchart based visual
programming enables a much larger group of professionals besides
software developers to translate domain Know How directly into a
set of custom software features. Flowcharts provide a much easier
approach to programming than coding.
ad 2. The flowchart based software features can be copied much
easier than coded software features between different custom
application instances, reducing cost of reproduction.
ad 3. The fact that the custom application can be created by
multiple users concurrent and is delivered as a service, which can
be used over the existing Internet infrastructure, reduces the
overall cost.
Governmental entities, and work done
toward each of the eight Millennium Development Goals, benefit
from custom applications that cost less and are more flexible.
A custom application supporting
citizens and governmental employees in changing citizen
registration highly automated for example, is still not available
in many countries. Notification of people to take their medicines,
a service that could be provided by an NGO, are just some of the
examples that benefit from highly customized application at
significantly reduced cost.
Enlarging the group of Know How
contributors and programmers, reducing the degree of difficulty in
deployment, reproduction and delivery are major factors, in the
overall necessary cost reduction and the needed increase in
flexibility of custom applications and their adaptation to
changing requirements. We can only achieve this reduction in cost
and increased flexibility by changing our fundamental approach to
a) who and how we make and b) how and for what we use custom
software as a tool.
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