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WO2018172970A1 - Système et procédé de gestion de données - Google Patents

Système et procédé de gestion de données Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2018172970A1
WO2018172970A1 PCT/IB2018/051928 IB2018051928W WO2018172970A1 WO 2018172970 A1 WO2018172970 A1 WO 2018172970A1 IB 2018051928 W IB2018051928 W IB 2018051928W WO 2018172970 A1 WO2018172970 A1 WO 2018172970A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
answers
user
questions
central server
word processing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/IB2018/051928
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Carl JANSE VAN RENSBURG
Christopher W WHITAKER
Hein DUROW
Kavendrin NAIDOO
Verosha MOODLEY
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Barloworld Ltd
Original Assignee
Barloworld Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Barloworld Ltd filed Critical Barloworld Ltd
Publication of WO2018172970A1 publication Critical patent/WO2018172970A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q40/00—Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
    • G06Q40/12—Accounting

Definitions

  • the present application relates to a distributed data management system and method.
  • GPI Global Reporting Initiative
  • Sustainability Reporting Guidelines which is a set of indicators to which each company subscribing to the guidelines are required to complete.
  • the present invention seeks to address this by providing an improved distributed data management system and method.
  • a data management method comprising: storing a plurality of questions and user identities in a database; transmitting data from a central server via a communications network to a plurality of distributed user computers, the data including user selected questions; receiving at the central server via the communications network, electronic answers to the selected questions from each of the plurality of user computers, the electronic answers having been input by users into the user computers; automatically allocating and collating the relevant answers for each question; and automatically storing the received answers against an existing or pre-determined structure or hierarchy in the database.
  • the method may further include providing flexible combinations for reporting answers.
  • the electronic answers may be received formatted in rich text and in addition may include attachments.
  • the allocating and collating the relevant answers includes allocating and collating the attachments for each question.
  • the user may additionally be prompted via the communications network to select questions which they want to answer. ln this case, based on the user selection, a plurality of questions are extracted and compiled into a word processing document which is downloadable by the user from the central server onto the user computer so that the user can answer the questions off line using a word processor.
  • the word processing document preferably includes a unique string identifier associated with each question.
  • the completed document may be saved locally on the user computer from where it can be uploaded back to the central server.
  • the central server typically accesses the uploaded completed word processing document and uses the unique string identifiers to identify the answers to the questions and to store the answers correctly in the database linked to answers to the same questions received from other users.
  • a data management system for implementing the method described above, the system including a central server, the central server including: a database having stored therein a plurality of questions and user identities; a communications module for transmitting data via a communications network to a plurality of user computers, the data including user selected questions, and for receiving electronic answers from each of the plurality of user computers; a data management module that automatically allocates and collates the relevant answers for each question; and a processor connected to the database, communications module and data management module, the processor automatically storing the answers against an existing or pre-determined structure or hierarchy in the database.
  • Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example system of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the application server of Figure
  • Figure 3 is a block flow diagram illustrating the downloading of a questionnaire for answering
  • Figure 4 is a block flow diagram illustrating the uploading of a completed questionnaire.
  • Figure 5 is a block flow diagram illustrating the extracting of reporting data.
  • the system and methodology described herein relate to a distributed computing data management system and method.
  • a distributed computing data management system 10 is used to implement the methodologies described below.
  • the data management system includes a central server 12, an associated memory 14 and a plurality of distributed remote computers 16. It should be noted that four computers 16 are illustrated for ease of reference only, and that in a real life implementation the system will cater for a large number of distributed computers 16.
  • computers 16 are generally illustrated as desktop computers, these could take the form of any other computing device including but not limited to lap top computers or any type of tablet or other computing device using software and having appropriate communication functionality to communicate with server 12.
  • server 12 can vary depending on the specific implementation built.
  • server 12 can be implemented in a remote fashion as per the illustrated embodiment and connected to the computers 16 via a communication network 18 such as the Internet, for example.
  • the communications network 18 can be a local area communication network in which case the server 12 is implemented separately but located locally to the computers 16.
  • the server 12 includes a number of modules described in more detail below.
  • modules described below may be implemented by a machine-readable medium embodying instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform any of the methods described above.
  • modules may be implemented using firmware programmed specifically to execute the method described herein.
  • modules illustrated could be located on one or more servers operated by one or more institutions.
  • modules may form a physical apparatus with physical modules specifically for executing the steps of the method described herein.
  • the data management method implemented includes storing a plurality of questions in the database 14.
  • a processor 20 of the server 12 controls the operation of the server to distribute data sets by transmitting data including selected questions to a plurality of user computers 16.
  • communications module 22 which communicates over the communications network 18.
  • the data including the questions are received at the computers 16 and users of the computers will access the questions at an appropriate time and input answers to the questions using their respective computers 16.
  • the users will typically be off line when they access the questions to input answers to the questions using their respective computers 16, meaning their user computer 16 will not be in active communication with the server 12 at this time.
  • the answers input by the various users into the computers 16 will typically differ from one another so that each individual question will have a number of different answers.
  • the answers are stored in a memory locally on the user computers 16 and then transmitted back at an appropriate time to the server 12 via the communications network 18.
  • response data including the user's answers, is received back at server 12 from the user computers 16 via communications network 18 and communication module 22.
  • the electronic responses received include the answers formatted in rich text and include attachments.
  • the received answers together with any attachments are stored in the database 14.
  • a data management module 24 automatically allocates and collates the relevant answers for each question.
  • the data management module 24 is comprised of hardware and software which together implement the functionality which will be described in more detail below.
  • the data management module 24 is comprised of hardware and software which is separate from that connected to the processor 20. However, it will be appreciated that in one example implementation the data management module 24 can be implemented using the same hardware as the processor 20 with additional software to implement the functionality required for the data management module 24.
  • Data management module 24 then automatically stores these answers against an existing or pre-determined structure or hierarchy in the database 14.
  • the server provides flexible combinations for reporting consolidated answers. There are a number of selectable options, including whether the user wants to extract a report reflecting all divisional responses for all questions or a selection thereof, for which financial period or whether filters are to be applied for selected Head Office individuals' allocated responsibility for specific questions.
  • the methodology could be used within one company with different departments reporting to a central department or even within a single department with a number of individuals reporting to a managing individual, to name but a few examples.
  • the Metadata for the data management system can be aligned to preexisting structures and formats (periods, scenarios, year and custom dimensions) where common. Examples of pre-existing structures and formats could be those already existing for financial and/or non-financial reporting.
  • the user via user computer 16 and the network 18 accesses the server12.
  • this is done via the Internet and a web browser executing on the user computer 16 so that the data is displayed to the user on the user computer via a display.
  • the processor 20 of server 12 manages data communication with the user via communications module 22 and user access module 26.
  • the user will typically be required to login by entering a user name and password and will then be given access to the remainder of the functionality of the system.
  • the processor of the server 12 Upon receiving an extract questionnaire request, the processor of the server 12 will prompt the user to select a reporting period. This may be any suitable period for which the system is set up. In the prototype, the reporting period is a year and is typically a financial year.
  • the user will select the reporting period of 2017.
  • the user is then provided with a menu of questions typically grouped together in categories. The user will now select which questions they wish to answer either by selecting all of the questions in a given category or by selecting only some of the questions in a given category.
  • the user is also given an option to include answers submitted from a previous period to the same questions.
  • the data management module 24 of the server 12 will now access the database 14 and based on the user question selection will extract question data from the database 14 reflecting the selected questions.
  • the data management module 24 uses the extracted question data to generate a word processing document including the extracted questions.
  • word processing document is a document formatted for Microsoft WordTM but it will be appreciated that any suitable word processor could be used and hence the format of the word processing document could be any suitable word processing format for example PagesTM used by the Apple operating system to name but one example.
  • the user may be prompted to select a word processing format that they prefer.
  • the data management module 24 will extract prior answer data from the database 14 and include the prior answers in the generated word processing document.
  • the data management module 24 also inserts into the word processing document a number of unique string identifiers which in the prototype implementation are referred to as a unique Point Of View (POV).
  • Eac unique point of view (POV) is made up of fields including for example the selected division, question number, period, year, scenario, etc.
  • the unique strings are inserted into the document to separate questions from one another. So each question together with its prior answer and current answer will have a unique string associated with it and demarcating it.
  • the unique strings will be displayed in the word processing document to a user but are not editable by the user. These will be discussed in more detail below.
  • the data management module 24 compiles word processing documents typically comprised of a POV, a question and a prior year answer (if requested by the user). This structure is repeated for each question.
  • the server 12 transmitting the Word document or a link to the Word document via the communications module 22 to remote computer 16.
  • the Word document is then stored locally in a memory of computer 16.
  • the word processing document is stored in the memory of the respective computer 16 in ".docx" format where it is a Word document and the questionnaire will be completed Offline' by the appropriate users of the computers.
  • the questionnaire in this format holds all functionality as a standard Word (.docx) document which can be easily completed by the user.
  • Word .docx
  • each Word document will contain a number of questions, in some cases the questions will all be the same and in other cases some of the questions may be included in some of the word document but not in others.
  • the Microsoft Word document is stored locally from where it can be uploaded back to the central server 12.
  • the user will typically again be required to login by entering their user name and password and will then be given access to the remainder of the functionality of the system.
  • the user will then select the "upload document” option and will be able to browse their local memory and select the completed word processing document for uploading.
  • the completed word processing document is transmitted to the server 12 and stored in the database 14.
  • the data management module 24 will deconstruct the uploaded word processing document to store each of the respective divisional answers against the respective financial period, defined entity and question structure in database 14 according to the unique POV allocated to each question upon extraction.
  • the data management module 24 does this by parsing the data in the document and looking for the POVs inserted into the document. Once located these will show the data management module 24 where in the database 14 to link the received answers so that they can be linked to answers received from other users 16 for the same question.
  • each question is uniquely stored in the database 14 for example by account (question), by custom (segment, region, method of load, period, etc.) and entity (division).
  • reporting options available include:
  • the user will be required to login with their username and password.
  • At least some users will be able to view all of the answers received and in the flowchart of Figure 5 these are referred to as head office users.
  • the user will select a consolidated report to link and will be asked if all answers to all questions should be extracted or not.
  • the user will also be prompted to select a reporting period which in the illustrated example is a financial period.
  • the data management module 24 will extract the requested data from the database 14 and produce a word processing document which will be downloadable by the user to read off line.
  • the present invention provides a data management system and method that allows a user to easily obtain data from various sources, collates the data into a useful format automatically and report on the data in a flexible manner.

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  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
  • Finance (AREA)
  • Strategic Management (AREA)
  • Development Economics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Economics (AREA)
  • Marketing (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Game Theory and Decision Science (AREA)
  • Entrepreneurship & Innovation (AREA)
  • Technology Law (AREA)
  • Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un procédé et un système de gestion de données. Le procédé comprend le stockage d'une pluralité de questions et d'identités d'utilisateurs dans une base de données au niveau d'un serveur central et la transmission de données depuis le serveur central par l'intermédiaire d'un réseau de communication vers une pluralité d'ordinateurs d'utilisateurs distribués. Les données comprennent des questions sélectionnées par l'utilisateur dans un document de traitement de mots. L'utilisateur achève la ligne de questions et transmet en retour au serveur central par l'intermédiaire du réseau de communication, des réponses électroniques aux questions sélectionnées. Le serveur attribue et collationne automatiquement les réponses pertinentes pour chaque question et stocke les réponses reçues par rapport à une structure ou une hiérarchie existante ou prédéterminée dans la base de données. L'invention concerne également des combinaisons flexibles pour rapporter des réponses.
PCT/IB2018/051928 2017-03-23 2018-03-22 Système et procédé de gestion de données Ceased WO2018172970A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ZA2017/02095 2017-03-23
ZA201702095 2017-03-23

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2018172970A1 true WO2018172970A1 (fr) 2018-09-27

Family

ID=61899324

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/IB2018/051928 Ceased WO2018172970A1 (fr) 2017-03-23 2018-03-22 Système et procédé de gestion de données

Country Status (2)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2018172970A1 (fr)
ZA (1) ZA201801940B (fr)

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
IE20070132A1 (en) * 2006-03-02 2008-02-06 Minotaur Business Res Systems A survey management system
US20120185888A1 (en) * 2011-01-19 2012-07-19 Sony Corporation Schema for interests and demographics profile for advanced broadcast services
US20120284324A1 (en) * 2011-05-02 2012-11-08 E-Rewards, Inc. System and method for conducting surveys on devices without requiring persistent network connectivity

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
IE20070132A1 (en) * 2006-03-02 2008-02-06 Minotaur Business Res Systems A survey management system
US20120185888A1 (en) * 2011-01-19 2012-07-19 Sony Corporation Schema for interests and demographics profile for advanced broadcast services
US20120284324A1 (en) * 2011-05-02 2012-11-08 E-Rewards, Inc. System and method for conducting surveys on devices without requiring persistent network connectivity

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ZA201801940B (en) 2019-01-30

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