This presentation looks at the technical part of data analysis in demographic surveillance systems (DSS). Database managers in DSS are confronted with a dilemma, when being asked to provide data for data analysis:

• Due to the technical setup of a DSS, the typical researcher might refuse to work directly on the database system. Instead, the database manager will be asked to provide the needed data in a readable format. Building these specific queries is a time consuming task.
• In order to reduce work load for the database manager, the DSS might come with predefined queries, which can be used by the researcher directly. These deliver the most important results, but do not provide sufficient flexibility to experiment with the data.

  Multidimensional data storage in info-cubes forms a good compromise between flexibility and simplicity of data analysis. Info cubes form the heart pieces of data warehouses, which are the data architecture in modern management information systems. These are a supplementary platform to relational data storage and are specifically optimized to facilitate data analysis.

  This presentation introduces the basic principles of info-cubes and how they can be used to provide easy-access to DSS data.

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  This page was build by Uwe Wahser (uwe@wahser.de) Last Revision: July 2001