Domestic Administration Agency
The Domestic Administration Agency (ABB) is dedicated to fostering sustainable and democratic coexistence within a diverse society. By bridging the gap between citizens and government, they empower both parties to reinforce one another.
So, how do they achieve this in practice? First, by offering a comprehensive policy framework and tools that enhance the relationship between citizens and government. Second, they prioritize strengthening the administrative capabilities of local governments, ensuring that tasks are executed at the level closest to the citizens.
Development Team for Local Products and Services Catalog
The ABB required a dedicated development team for the Local Products and Services Catalog project. At Kunlabora, we assembled a four-person team consisting of three developers and a customer proxy to oversee the project's management.
Catalog Expansion with Enhanced Functionalities
At Kunlabora, we focused on expanding the Local Products and Services Catalog (LPDC) for all Flemish local governments, delivering both new and enhanced functionalities.
An essential aspect of our assignment involved optimizing the flow of structured data from the LPDC to the Inter-administrative Products and Services Catalog (IPDC) of Digital Flanders. This initiative aims to make structured data more accessible to users, enabling applications such as the Rights Explorer—providing an overview of social rights at the federal, Flemish, provincial, and local levels—and the Associations Counter, a digital platform designed to simplify access to services for associations.
Additionally, it was crucial to establish the necessary integrations with other softwareproviders offering similar solutions to local governments.
Linked Open Data and OSLO
We assisted the ABB in advancing the adoption of Linked Open Data (LOD) within the Flemish government and local administrations. LOD is a methodology for publishing structured data on the Internet, enabling it to be easily accessible and searchable by both humans and machines.
Our team played a key role in developing a Flemish standard data model for government information, actively participating in the OSLO workshops: Open Standards for Linking Organizations.
To maximize the effectiveness of the Kunlabora team, we also supported the ABB in enhancing their digital processes. This included setting up test automation, optimizing ICT workflows, and improving software modeling. Finally, we compiled our insights and provided comprehensive documentation for the open-source community, following the principles outlined in Simon Brown's software handbook.
Technologies and methodologies used
The team implemented a lot of diverse technologies at ABB:
- LOD: Linked Open Data
- JSON-LD
- LDES: Linked Data Event Stream
- SHACL: Shapes Constraint Language
- Typescript
- RDF: Resource Description Framework
- Virtuoso triple store
- SPARQL: SPARQL Protocol and RDFQuery Language
- Docker
- EmberJS
- ACM/IDM
- Woodpecker
- Jest
- Playwright
- GitBook
- ABB Semantic forms
To do so,they used a lot of different methodologies:
- Story mapping
- Impact mapping
- Sprint velocity monitoring
- Agile/Scrum/SAFe
- Hexagonal source code architecture
- Software documentation as a guidebook
Open-Source Software Development
To ensure the success of an open-source project, it’s essential to go beyond simply sharing the source code on GitHub. At Kunlabora, we adhere to the following key requirements and best practices:
- Clear Documentation: This includes comprehensive information on installation instructions, software architecture, and source code, along with straightforward guidelines for contributors.
- Issue Tracking & Management: We assist in establishing an organized system for reporting, tracking, and managing bugs, feature requests, and other potential issues.
- Version Management: We maintain the software’s relevance and security by regularly releasing updates that include bug fixes, security enhancements, and new features
By focusing on these aspects, we enhance the viability, sustainability, and community engagement of your project.
The Importance of Automated Testing
A critical aspect of developing and maintaining open-source software—and indeed, any software development project—is the essential role of automated testing.This process involves using test scripts and tools to automatically evaluate software applications, helping to identify bugs and errors.
Automated testing provides several advantages:
- Quality Assurance: By detecting errors early in the development process, you enhance the consistency and reliability of the software.
- Efficiency: Automated testing facilitates Continuous Integration/Continuous Development, accelerating development cycles and speeding up the release of new features.
- Peer Reviews: It helps identify basic errors automatically and allows for immediate feedback to contributors of the open-source software.
- Scalability: You can manage a wide range of tests simultaneously and easily expand them as the project grows.
- Security: Automated testing proactively detects security vulnerabilities, ensuring the software remains secure.
Looking for a Dedicated Development Team?
At Kunlabora, we offer a Team-as-a-Service model tailored to your software needs. We assemble a dedicated team to complement and support your existing team, ensuring efficient software development alongside extensive knowledge sharing.
Our approach includes training your team to work independently with the new software, so you continue to reap the benefits of our collaboration long after the project concludes. Interested in learning more?
Inspired by this case and would you like to work together?
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