Informatization of the regional sphere of culture: experience of Tatarstan

In 2008 the BARS GROUP together with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan performed the project of creation and implementation of an information and analytical system of monitoring of activity of republican budgetary institutions of the sphere of culture. "BARS. Web Monitoring of Culture" became the Russia's first solution of the class "Business intelligence" (BI) created especially for the sphere of culture. Providing creation of regional Situational command center by the sphere of culture, it helps to conduct the thought-over state policy. A system is developed on the basis of Internet technologies. It integrates the department leading the sphere of culture of the region and all subordinated organizations in a uniform information prostrastvo. Organizations enter into the system statistical data in real time. This information instantly gathers in uniform storage. The management can quickly analyze it. It is remarkable that process of the analysis is also automated.

The list of indicators on which monitoring is performed is very wide. It covers all directions of culture of the region, including cinema and photoart, library and museum science, gives the chance to monitor development of art forms and art education, to estimate efficiency of measures for protection of objects of cultural heritage. In a system data on the personnel and personnel requirement, state orders and financing are considered.

Application of an information and analytical system "BARS. Web Monitoring of Culture" helps with the solution of a number of tasks.

Management on the basis of up-to-date information

In uniform base data on all types of organizations subordinated to the ministry are collected: to libraries, theaters, museums, circuses, organizations of cultural and leisure type and so forth. This information and also the interactive map help to reveal visually errors in placement of organizations and to plan development of infrastructure. Thus, having a modern BI system, the staff of the ministry, without leaving an office, can assess a situation in specific subordinated organization or analyze data in scales of municipality and the region in any section.

Monitoring of objects of monumental art

A system provides accounting of objects of monumental art and cultural heritage. It gives an opportunity of collecting of up-to-date information about all monuments, memorial sculptural compositions and other works, including – located in the most remote parts of the region. The current status and a type of an object (collecting of facsimiles is online performed) are traced, data on the author, responsible for contents, etc. are fixed. To see the photo of an object, it is enough to click on the corresponding icon located in a report form.

To the 65 anniversary of the Victory using "BARS. Web Monitoring of Culture" in the Republic of Tatarstan was carried out to the shortest possible time monitoring of all objects of monumental art devoted to the Great Patriotic War.

Detection of requirements of art education

In a system the complete list of the regulated statistics concerning the sphere of art education including structure of the pedagogical personnel, the number of pupils, financing of schools of art and a status of material and technical resources gathers.

Control of public procurements

There is a possibility of control of accomplishment of the state order: the solution is supplied with the corresponding report forms in which information on organizations, the held auction, suppliers, contractual terms, etc. is fixed.

Operational collecting of the independent reporting

Often there is a need for the indicators which are not included in federal and regional forms of statistical reporting. Such reporting is, as a rule, connected with collection of information for the operational solution of non-standard tasks: preparation for the celebration of the 65 anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, carrying out the All-Russian census of libraries, collecting of data on retraining of personnel, etc. "BARS. Web Monitoring of Culture" allows to collect and analyze also this information from the most extensive subordinated network within one working day. It is enough to create Excel template of a report form, to load it into a system, and the new form becomes available to operators in organizations. The existing functionality of attachment to report forms of photo and video images and also a possibility of creation of individual processings to forms – all this gives to a system additional flexibility.

Data integration within carrying out the All-Russian census of libraries

Today close attention as they, first of all, should solve a problem of providing free access to information of each person is paid to libraries. At the same time, the departmental dissociation of the Russian libraries to some extent reduces efficiency of use of cumulative information resources. Besides, the state statistical observation extends only to the public libraries which are generally relating to maintaining the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Out of statistical analysis there is also an activity of the libraries which do not have the status of the legal entity, being structural divisions of organizations, the enterprises, the organizations. As a result of it there are no official statistical data about libraries of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Labour, employment and social protection, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health and other departments and also about libraries of labor unions, universities and ssuz. All this distorts a real situation on the organization of library and information service of the population, reduces the level of analytical researches, respectively, complicates tasks of management and strategic planning of development of the industry. The ministries of the Republic of Tatarstan use a number of solutions on the platform of BARS.web Codes. The unique opportunity of consolidation of data from the systems of the specified ministries provides the high level of the organization of a census of all types of libraries, operational processing and the analysis of collected information.

Ensuring open activity of authorities

Information on all organizations and the services rendered by the sphere of culture to citizens collected by a system can be posted on the website of the Ministry of Culture. Owing to this fact the portal provides transparency of the sphere of culture for citizens and is the platform for interaction of the state, business and society for the purpose of cultural development.

System "BARS. Web Monitoring of Culture" is drawing, and its deployment in scales of the region does not represent complexity. Technical procedures (such as installation of the database or server part) do not require considerable labor and time expenditure at implementation.

Training of specialists can be performed in the video conference mode. A system is available to all operators online via the web browser. Thus, software installation on each computer is not required. All changes and updates are entered into the system on a centralized basis. In a system the mechanisms allowing to collect successfully indicators from multilevel hierarchy of organizations which can include several thousands of subscribers are implemented. A sensitive issue is an opportunity to control timeliness, completeness and correctness of the entered data. The information and analytical system provides multi-user access to data, helps to trace a stage of filling of a form, to control correctness of the in-fed information both one expert, and several. Documents can be assured the electronic digital signature.

"BARS. Web Monitoring of Culture" provides operational creation and display of multidimensional analytical reports (selections) on the basis of information which is stored in the database in real time. A system is capable to process easily and quickly huge amounts of data: several clicks of a mouse – and the user receive an overall picture of collected data which it if necessary can detail multilaterally. Creation of tabular reports involves an additional opportunity: creation of charts and diagrams of the most different types. Mobility of their formation, diversity of formats (including 3D), an extensive color gamma for a coloring, a possibility of export to the graphic file for the subsequent insert in reports – good help by preparation of reports, DRONDOV and other publications.

The indicators of all subordinated network of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan collected in uniform storage are a basis for managerial analytics. However using tabular tools ordinary specialists, analysts, chiefs of departments, divisions for further transfer of results to the higher management are engaged in drawing up and studying of interim statements, as a rule. It is important to last to see summary information, a pressing on the desktop. From that how qualitative it will be, the efficiency of acceptance of management decisions depends.

In a system there is an instrument of support of acceptance of management decisions – a dashboard of the head. This subsystem allows to broadcast results of monitoring visually. With its help primary information develops in key indicators. Thanks to a variety of instruments of visualization "dry" digits develop in diagrams, optimal for the analysis, the card, the chart, etc. All diagrams and charts are interactive, and the data which are contained in them can be decrypted.

Thus, for perception of big arrays of information reserves of a figurative, associative human thought are activated. It is enough to head to open the page on the Internet – and all picture of results of work of the industry at it on a desktop.

Thus, application of an information and analytical system of monitoring of activity of budgetary institutions of the sphere of culture allows:

• obtain up-to-date information about a situation in each subordinated organization;
• have materials for sociocultural design and development of strategy of policy in the field of culture;
• strengthen personnel potential and develop industry infrastructure;
• control quality of rendering public services and efficiency of actions;
• define priority areas for implementation of target programs and projects in the field of culture;
• render assistance to development of traditions of the people of Russia;
• it is considerable to accelerate collecting and information analysis about all aspects of work and policy of the industry;
• it is sharp to reduce flows of paper document flow and to pass to paperless office-work.

Positive experience of implementation and use of this system is already received in the Republic of Tatarstan where in it more than 4200 network units of cultural institutions are connected, over 3600 users are registered, the packet of statistical reporting in volume of 45 forms comprising more than 3200 control ratios is created.