EnvisionConnect Speaks SWIS-DIP

California's Solid Waste Information System's Digital Inspection Project (SWIS-DIP) is described this way...

The Solid Waste Information System Digital Inspections Program (SWIS-DIP) provides an easy, electronic way to submit statutorily mandated inspection reports. Using SWISDIP reduces waste and paperwork and improves the accuracy and consistency of your reports. Inspections may be submitted using the SWIS-DIP fill-in web form or with XML web services.

That sounds as close to an "Easy" button as you can get, but Decade Software has been working with the state to provide an Easy button on steroids. This fall, EnvisionConnect provides round trip data integration with SWIS-DIP.

Want to know more? Join us at the Decade Software 2009 Training Conference, October 19th and 20th.

Where do Obama and McCain stand on Environmental Health?

I don't like to get into politics in a company blog, but this one is a safe bet.

On the subject of Environmental Health, both candidates are in total agreement.

According to the group Science Debate 2008, both candidates support:

• Offshore drilling
• Refining clean coal
• Using nuclear power
• Adopting alternative fuels
• Exploring renewable energy, such as wind and solar

Both candidates tout plans to use emission trading to roll back the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to below 1990 levels before the year 2050. These plans differ only in the degrees set as goals. Barack Obama is targeting a 80% reduction, whereas John McCain is shooting for a 60% rollback.

I don't really see this as any difference at all. With any goals, we may come close, or we may overshoot the mark. With these two goals, either effort should get us in the same ballpark.

Either measure may require Environmental Health regulators to track GHG levels, making the next four years a period of growth for EnvisionConnect.

Real leaders can save the world

On the subject of Environmental Health...

What would you say if I told you there was a conservative oil tycoon—the 117th richest man on earth!—who had a realistic plan for breaking the United States' dependency on oil and saving the world in the process?

In this blog, I love to point out great leaders.

I'm beginning to think—unless he really has a lot of people fooled—T. Boone Pickens is one of the greatest.

Decade Software inspects restaurants in Canada

This morning, I am meeting with our sister company in Canada. The team there is taking first steps to migrate HES customers to EnvisionConnect.

As Developer Mike Vea and I prepared for the meeting, it considered that some of you may not yet heard of Decade Canada.

Here's the scoop as recounted on their web-site...

"In November 2003, Decade Software Company, LLC incorporated a Canadian subsidiary company called Decade Software Canada Ltd.

The Environmental Health software assets known as the Hedgehog Environmental Systems (HES) software were purchased from Procura along with the rights to the existing contracts.

The Hedgehog Environmental Systems software was originally developed in 1993 by Neil Grinwis of Hedgehog Systems. Neil was recruited to run the Canadian company and to continue servicing the Canadian Environmental Health customers."

Today, we are comparing business rules between the two products to ensure that HES customers have all they need before the move to EnvisionConnect.

Growth is always exciting for us. I'll keep posted on our progress.

New ideas in Environmental Health

As you know, Decade Software leads the industry in providing software for Environmental Health regulators.  As such, I like to keep readers abreast of new ideas in Environmental Health.

The folks at the Cowlitz County Environmental Health Department in Longview, Washington have started an interesting movement.

They are getting the community involved in identifying and correcting local Environmental Health concerns, using what they describe as a national protocol to work through the process.
The final of three public meetings will be held 7:30 to 9, Friday morning.

Environmental Health regulators, software demand increases

Decade Software Company's flagship products, EnvisionConnect, makes the life of the Environmental Health regulator extremely easy. As Environmental Health concerns worsen throughout the country—and the world—the regulator's job becomes more important.

As earthquakes, tornadoes, and flooding reach all-time highs, Environmental Health is becoming a topic the folks in Washington cannot ignore.

"The Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly chosen to stray from the clear and science-based recommendations of expert advisory panels, public health organizations and advocates, and in some cases even its own career staff scientists, in order to make policies and decisions that fall short of adequately protecting children as well as the general public.”

That concluded testimony this week from a member of the EPA Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee before the Senate Public Sector Solutions to Global Warming, Oversight, and Children’s Health Protection Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

We need more Sonic Drive-ins on Skid Row

I saw a news headline Saturday that read, "Global Food Price Crisis Threatens Worldwide Starvation". Sunday, I ate lunch at the Sonic Drive-in.

My wife and I were sitting at one of those picnic tables between the drive-up areas—as were several other after-Church families—and the family next to us was arguing with their car-hop.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I cannot split the order over two cards. You should have specified that when you ordered."

It was a couple with three kids. They had ordered five burgers, each with drinks and tater-tots.

"Well, if my wife and I can't split the cost, we're not paying." The father replied.

"Then, I will have to take your food back."

"Fine."

Without even opening the bags or putting straws into their drinks, the family got into their car and rode away—and the car-hop threw all five burgers, tater-tots, and drinks into the trash can next to our table.

A few minutes later, the same car-hop was talking to me.

She said, "Sir, there will be a 15 minute wait on your tater-tots. We are out and will have to make some more."

My wife kicked me before I could say...

"You wouldn't have to make more if you hadn't thrown five orders into the trash can!"

That's when I remembered the headline regarding starvation, and I thought about Ethiopia and those commercials networks show when you're eating dinner, and then I knew why other countries think all Americans are fat and spoiled.

Environmental Health Clinic Opens for Business

Our flagship product, EnvisionConnect, is the most complete set of tools available for regulating Environmental Health.

As such, I like to make it a point to keep readers abreast of the latest Environmental Health news, and New York University has recently setup an Environmental Health Clinic. That is news worth passing on.

The university describes it this way...

"The Environmental Health Clinic at NYU is a clinic and lab, modeled on other health clinics at universities. However the project approaches health from an understanding of its dependence on external local environments; rather than on the internal biology and genetic predispositions of an individual."

The clinic works like this. You make an appointment—as you would at a traditional public health clinic—to talk about your particular environmental health concerns.

...so when folks see your agency inspections posted online and are concerned about offenders, they have someone else to call other than their local Environmental Health regulator.

Over 12 states suing EPA over Environmental Health

Today, a dozen states and eleven non-profit organizations filed suit to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to comply with a Supreme Court ruling on the regulation of global warming pollution.

I'm still wondering what it will mean for Environmental Health regulators if the EPA does comply.

The suit comes a year after the Court ruled that the EPA has the authority under existing law to regulate greenhouse gases and a week after the head of the EPA recanted his repeated commitment to respond to the decision on a firm and prompt time table.

The legal action asks a federal court in Washington, D.C. to direct the EPA to issue its determination whether global warming pollution endangers public health or welfare within 60 days. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is leading this new legal effort.

Environmental Defense Fund Deputy General Counsel Vickie Patton said today... 

“The EPA is defying the Supreme Court and endangering our economy, our environment, and our health. The law and the science are clear: The EPA must act now.” 

The Environmental Health Defense Fund is a party to the suit.

The petitioning states are: Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Maryland and Minnesota.  

Three cities also joined the suit.

EH Departments to inspect people for contamination

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that Environmental Health Departments will soon be testing humans for contaminants.

The 2008 studies will be part of a $2 million experiment in bio-monitoring, which collects human tissue, hair, blood or urine to look for harmful contaminants.

The purpose is to learn what substances are actually in human bodies, rather than merely in the air, water or soil that pollution control officials typically measure.

5 Dysfunctions and those trusted to solve our problems

EnvisionConnect—our flagship product—is primarily used by Environmental Health regulators. With this in mind—that and the whole I'm-Worried-We-Might-Destroy-Our-Planet thing—I like to keep up with Environmental Health news.

During a public hearing yesterday on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to strengthen the current health standard for air pollution, a health advocate from Environmental Defense urged the EPA to—and I am quoting—

"...adopt the stronger health standard recommended by all 23 expert scientists on the EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) that would protect millions more Americans."

It just seems to me that this would be a no-brainer. In the movies, if 23 different scientists from around the world said a meteor was about to destroy the earth, we'd unite against the common foe, call in John Wayne and Bruce Willis, etc.—but in the real world, no one can trust their teammates long enough to admit we have problems, which is a prerequisite to solving those problems. 

To recap Patrick Lencioni's 5 Dysfunctions of a Team...

"An Absence of Trust causes

Fear of Conflict, which causes

a Lack of Commitment, which causes

an Avoidance of Accountability, which causes

Inattention to results."

Ignoring the problems faced by any team—including our politicians—is the surest way never to solve the problems.

Something is really wrong with this picture

I don't usually stray from discussing programming, leadership, and Scrum, except for the occasional Environmental Health related story—and maybe that's what this is about, but it feels like something much heavier.

As Hurricane Dean wreaks havoc, I can't help but remember my home and family in Louisiana. I can't help but to think of Hurricane Katrina.

You may have heard recently that the tourists have returned to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast—but you may have not heard what they are coming to see.

From the Associated Press yesterday...

Isabelle Cossart (of Tours by Isabelle) bills it as 70 miles of destruction in 3 1/2 hours. Nearly two years after Katrina turned New Orleans into a lake of misery, demand for tours of the devastation overwhelms that for visits to mainstay attractions such as cemeteries, plantations and swamps. "Our survival depends on it. If I quit doing the post-Katrina city tour, I'm out of business," Cossart said.

Two years after Hurricane Katrina, there is a 70 mile tour showing nothing but destruction. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but something is really wrong with this picture.

Why so much ado about San Bernardino County?

By now, you've heard that San Bernardino County has migrated from Envision to EnvisionConnect. You've likely heard that they have completed billing and have over 40 inspectors in the field carrying Toughbooks running EnvisionConnect Remote, but maybe now you're asking yourself:

• Hasn't Nevada County used EnvisionConnect for nearly a year?
• Haven't many other Environmental Health regulators across the country adopted EnvisionConnect since then?
• Hasn't Anchorage, Alaska successfully migrated from Envision to EnvisionConnect?
• Hasn't Sacramento and Orange County been beta testers for a couple of years now?

Of course, the answer to those questions is a resounding "yes".

That brings us to your next question: What's so special about San Bernardino County?

Encyclopedia's describe San Bernardino this way:

"San Bernardino County is the largest county in the contiguous United States by area, containing more land than each of nine states. The county is larger in area than the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined. Any of those states could be replaced in the list by New Jersey, Vermont, or New Hampshire."

San Bernardino County

That makes the county sound pretty important, but that's not exactly why it's so important to us. We are very close to our long-time customers, most of which still use Envision—and many have done so since the original DOS version. Some of the staff at these agencies are like family—or at least like co-workers. We have known them a very long time, and it is important to our staff that we keep them happy.

EnvisionConnect was actually designed by the Envision user community, and no matter how many new customers climb aboard, it is the final approval of our long-time customers that keep us on the edge of our seats. We've tried hard to cook what they ordered, and we're awaiting the moment they taste it and tell us whether we got it right.

That's where San Bernardino comes in.

Envision is a complicated application. It provides the tools to manage a vast number of programs regulated by the environmental health industry. Some Envision agencies regulate more programs than others. San Bernardino County is an agency that uses most of the programs regulated by Envision.

We knew that if San Bernardino's migration proved successful, everyone else's would as well. Today, Dan Avera and his team are smiling, but our smiles are bigger.

California environment health regulators tackle global threat

The San Jose Mercury News reported this morning that Santa Cruz has joined the cities of Berkeley and San Francisco in creating new positions for global warming experts in their environmental health departments. Other California agencies are expected to follow soon.

It may be just a matter of time before CTO Darryl Booth and his crew are called to prototype an EnvisionConnect "Managing Global Warming" workflow. I doubt we will have any idea what such a workflow might look like until these agencies have defined specific tasks for these new positions. However, Time Magazine has made some suggestions in it's Global Warming Survival Guide.

Environmental Health departments grow in importance

According to the Journal of Urban Health, Environmental Health departments world-wide are growing in importance—and in the number of department responsibilities—as concerns about global warming escalate.

They say...

"Climate change is an emerging threat to global public health. It is also highly inequitable, as the greatest risks are to the poorest populations, who have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions. The rapid economic development and the concurrent urbanization of poorer countries mean that developing-country cities will be both vulnerable to health hazards from climate change and, simultaneously, an increasing contributor to the problem."

From an EnvisionConnect perspective, it's exciting to consider what new modules we'll be adding over the next few years.

Toxic seafood found in New Zealand restaurant

A couple of days ago, I mentioned that...

"...health inspectors say that most food-borne illness complaints are usually not attributable to the food facility identified by the patient."

Apparently, the key word in that entry was most.

This week, in New Zealand, the former manager of the Imperial Sichuan Restaurant pleaded guilty to five charges brought against him by the New Zealand Animal Welfare Act and the Auckland City Council.

"Inspectors there found 39 crayfish in a tank that was approximately 20 times more toxic than normal...These crustaceans were being sold to the patrons of the restaurant."

My first thought is: How toxic is normal in New Zealand?

Another report said...

"The crayfish were kept barely alive in toxic tanks, and would have given customers food poisoning if they were eaten."

This certainly would not have been tolerated back home in Louisiana. Not only would our inspectors been on top of it, but they would have also fined the restaurant and the news reporters for misspelling crawfish.

How important is your software?

When I meet new people outside of the office, and they ask, "What does Decade Software do?" I always reply exactly the same way.

"We write software for the government."

Their eyes always get real big. "Really. What sort of software?"

And I always whisper the answer. "It's a secret."

So, shoot me. 

This is not really a lie—and it is much easier than trying to explain what "software that manages the day to day operations of an Environmental Health Department" actually means.

Besides, it sounds more important—not to mention really cool.

I thought of this today, when I read that a number of United Airlines flights were canceled this week due to "software failure". Not long ago, the same thing happened on the international space station—and it happens on space shuttles almost monthly.

Reading this, I was thinking that I was glad that no one's life depended on our software—but that was before I remembered a recent trip, where I drove and wish I had flown.

In one of the few California counties that do not use our software to inspect restaurants, I stopped for lunch. I had shrimp, which—before this trip—was my favorite food. Afterwards, maybe my life was not in danger, but—on my knees in that gas station restroom—I promise you that I wished I was dead.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

I'm not saying that a restaurant inspector using Envision's Field Inspection System—or better, EnvisionConnect's new Observational Inspections—would have certainly found the problem before it made me sick. In fact, health inspectors say that most food-borne illness complaints are usually not attributable to the food facility identified by the patient. Most are caused by unrelated illness or by the complainant’s own food handling.

Tell that to a man praying to a porcelain God.

My point is: the importance of a software application really depends on a person's perspective. If the application gives someone peace of mind—If it makes someone's life or job easier—If they can get more accomplished, faster, and with fewer mistakes—then the software is very important to them. And it doesn't matter whether the user is at a desktop or laptop, in a police car or a garbage truck, inspecting a restaurant or taxiing down a runway. Application importance and the public's point-of-view go hand-in-hand. Software is important only if it removes personal pain.

However...

For the record...

Just to be on the safe side...

If I had to trust my life to an airline using software made by a tried and true company versus some discount, fly-by-night operation, I'd go with experience over pretty dogs and ponies any day.

Migration Response Team prepared for any emergency

Scrum dictates that nothing shall impede the project goals. The job of the Scrum Master is to insure that such impediments do not interfere with promised deliveries. Between now and July 31st, the Development Team's Job One is making sure that 90% of our customer base has the base functionality required to migrate from Decade Envision to Decade EnvisionConnect.

San Bernardino County is the largest county in the contiguous United States by area. Like most environmental health agencies in large counties, San Bernardino County Environmental Health Services uses Envision to manage everything. San Bernardino County has their own goals. They wish to be be the first Envision customer to use EnvisionConnect to conduct CalCode inspections in the field—and they can't wait until July 31st.

Luckily for us, Scrum is a process designed to expect and react to change.

Today, professionals from all Decade Software departments meet to form a splinter group—a San Bernardino Migration Emergency Response Team—that will be ready for action when SBCDEH completes their migration on July 2nd. Until someone shoots that guy Murphy and repeals his law, we know something will go wrong. Our goal is to be ready to react and rectify the problem immediately with minimal impact to the customer.

Watch this weblog to see what happens. I have said before that this is a very exciting time to be at this company. It becomes moreso everyday.

Governor Arnold promotes Environmental Health

Speaking of Environmental Health and true lies, there is much talk lately about the global warming predator and the end of days. Being in California, I am impressed to find our governor leading the way in terminating the problem. Arnold Schwarzenegger and British Columbia's Premier, Gordon Campbell, met last week and made a raw deal to totally recall greenhouse gas emissions before we rack up any more collateral damage. I think it's just a matter of time before the law is changed, and our last action hero is a running man in a presidential primary.

What the heck is Environmental Health?

As I setup this blog, it occurred to me that someone may stumble upon this scribbling and not have a clue what Environmental Health or Environmental Health software is all about. To assist with this, I checked Wikipedia...

Environmental Health comprises those aspects of human health including quality of life that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social, and psychosocial factors in the natural environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling, and preventing those factors in the environment that can potentially affect adversely the health of present and future generations. Nutrition, soil contamination, water pollution, air pollution, safe drinking water, noise pollution, waste control, and public health are integral aspects of environmental health.

...But I thought that Robin Good's description was easier to follow...

Environmental Health describes both the impact of the environment on human health and the impact of human activity on the environment.

There you have it. If this question comes up on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, you'll be prepared.