Leadership at a State of Colorado Division needed a platform for hundreds of external stakeholders to send semi-structured data to the State for a variety of new laws within mere months. This division was in a high-pressure environment, searching for a proven system that could offer customizability and could be deployed quickly while also adapting to their unique needs, including structured review capabilities, file management, and GIS analysis.
In addition, the Division sought a partner for long-term technology transformation and identified the Cornflower Modules platform as an opportunity to build a base that could enable transformative projects and experiments over the long term.
Cornflower created a customized deployment of their Modules product – an integrated form, data processing, data analysis, and workflow management system – which adapted to the Division’s unique needs while leveraging Modules’ wide feature set. On day one, Modules contained the mission-critical functionality for the Division, including user accounts and user management, task assignment, and a review pipeline for the Division to internally and externally respond to external submissions. It also came pre-configured with other desired features, including integration with the State’s technology stack, data visualization capabilities, and previous approval of the State’s security requirements for system hosting and deployment.
By tightly integrating with the client team using Google chat rooms and engaging in daily communication, Cornflower rapidly gained info on the context of the project and immediate requirements in a matter of weeks, which enabled shortened delivery times within an Agile approach. By one week after contract execution, the Division and external local government users were providing initial feedback on a test system, and within three weeks were testing and reviewing the implemented system.
Cornflower Modules implementation
Process improvement
Open database access and data infrastructure
SQL query design and recommendations for data analysis
Custom user-centered design for new features
By using Cornflower Modules, the Division kicked off a ground-up open platform for data across their division and department, solving not only their immediate legislative mandates but also long-term digitalization and modernization goals.
By using industry standard cloud deployment, code, and database tools, the agency enabled a high degree of interoperability with other existing and future parts of their business processes. This flexibility allowed the agency to rapidly respond to future mandates and changes, including, for example:
New legislative requirements for data collection
Updates or augmentations to the data currently being collected
Process modifications, including changes to internal approval processes
Archival or other documentation requirements
Additional integrations with other software systems such as Tableau and GIS software through APIs, database connections, and file transfer/downloads
The Cornflower Modules approach enabled first-class integrations with Tableau, Looker Studio, and other business tools to leverage Cornflower Modules as a central dashboard for the Division’s work. As such, the Modules Platform automates myriad formerly manual processes such as free-form, email-based questionnaires and the manual archiving of final reports.
The entire Cornflower Modules system uses a transparent SQL-based data schema and follows data design best practices. This enables Division data analysts and decision-makers to easily access their data and make business decisions via SQL queries, Tableau, and other visualization tools.