Behind the scenes: where the magic happens.

Andrew Daigle, NPDN IT Manager
The Communicator: Volume 5, Issue 4, April 2024


Welcome to this month’s IT Bytes. Most of what we do here at the NPDN IT center is like the wind: you can’t see it or touch it but, its effects are undeniable. The last few months we have been working under the hood keeping the fine IT machinery of the network humming and performing. Since January 1, 2024, we have processed 22 new user accounts. In doing that, we found efficiencies could be made in the account set-up process.

 

  1. We developed code to interact with the application programming interface (API) of LearnUpon which will now automagically change the user data in LearnUpon when you update your profiles. One of the issues we were having was people who changed their email addresses could not login to LearnUpon because the email addresses did not match, and we would have to manually make those changes. This is no longer the case.
  2. We have centralized the user management process to two areas, the central authentication system (CAS) and the National Data Repository (NDR), for better control and efficiency.
  3. We have developed our own API process for the Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) to query our database to determine whether a diagnosis being entered will be a first in state diagnosis. This is now in testing with the LIMS.
  4. We have completed this year’s survey, and regional leadership will soon be pouring over the data.
  5. We are revamping the survey reports to give regional leadership and USDA NIFA more useful information based on the data you provided.


Our goal is to be efficient and effective to facilitate better data gathering and information dissemination for you, our members. We are open to new and innovative ways to help you get the information you need to provide the best service to your stakeholders. If there are things we can create or improve to make the NPDN IT experience better for all members, please let your regional leadership know so they can vet the suggestions and prioritize the best ways to excel moving forward.

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