Success Stories
Noratek Solutions’ Mobile Data Collection Framework
City: Prince George
British Columbia Regional Science & Technology Network Council: Innovation Resource Centre
Paperwork – and lots of it – is a fact of life for the people who maintain and inspect our province’s roads, to ensure safety and accuracy. For example, Yellowhead Road and Bridge, a road maintenance and inspection company that operates across British Columbia, uses over 50 inspection forms.
 But now Noratek Solutions, a software company specializing in mobile data collection based in Prince George, has developed a method of collecting data in the field electronically, freeing inspectors from paper inspection forms and manual data entry.
Though Yellowhead Road and Bridge was Noratek’s primary client, the result – a set of code generators that allows Noratek to efficiently generate the necessary code for an application – can be applied to any sector that collects a lot of data, such as the forestry or pulp and paper industries.
Noratek specializes in converting an organization’s paper forms to an electronic, handheld format that can incorporate photos, GPS, video, digital signatures and other unique features. The code developed for Yellowhead Road and Bridge has been compiled into a Mobile Data Collection Framework, which has opened up new business opportunities as Noratek can now move large volumes of inspection reports from paper to digital data collections, collected via the Internet and PDA and stored in a central warehouse.
 The Mobile Data Collection Framework project also marks the beginnings of a fundamental change in how developers look at building applications. Traditionally, developers have built applications using an integrated development environment, and have used screen design tools or manual code generation to complete the program. Noratek’s program allows developers to input the user requirements using a web interface; once this process is complete, Noratek can generate the entire software project, which is then opened and customized. This process dramatically reduces the amount of time and effort required to build an application, while also improving the quality of the application, as code generators don’t make mistakes.
 Noratek’s innovative process is revolutionizing methods of software development while continuing to improve mobile data collection. Noratek will begin marketing its products to road maintenance companies in Canada and the U.S., but such technology clearly has applications in other sectors. By streamlining both software development and mobile data collection, productivity improves, the quality of reporting is higher, and the incidence of error in both application development and data collection declines. Commercialization is underway, and Noratek’s mobile data process has significant potential for increasing investment in B.C.’s technology and resource-based sectors.
For more information visit http://www.noratek.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=74
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