Information systems

Over the last twenty years, the Istituto G. Caporale has constantly dedicated resources to research, improvement and innovation, including technological, of its methods of management. For example, it has developed information systems capable of generating the information necessary for its own governance, and for the assessment of the efficacy and efficiency of its activities.

The governance of the operation of the Institute is controlled by an information system for generating and gathering the information which feeds the Institute's integrated database, extracting at suitable intervals all the essential items for economic and operative control. The data relating to the Institute's diagnostic activities, to the production of culture mediums, to management control, to personnel, to the planning and control of its activities all flows into this reporting system.

The system of Planning and Control of Activities (PCA) was developed in 2001-2002 in order to monitor and increase the productivity and efficacy of the human resources:   it involves a daily declaration by every employee, via the corporate Intranet, of the time spent on their various activities, both macro and micro. Given the importance of the cost of personnel in the economic management of the Institute, this tool has assumed an enormous significance in monitoring performance, because among other things it becomes especially useful in integrating with other management systems such as the Laboratory Information System (SILAB), the Administration Information System (SIAM), the Training Information System (SIF), Management Control (CdG), and with the information acquired from the analyses "Service to Clients", "Project Management" and "Compliance with Regulations".

The most innovative aspects, however, are those which were set up for simplifying the performance of internal and external administrative tasks, thus eliminating the numerous paper forms which were once used to collect requests and authorizations. These days, by going straight into a browser, it is possible to book a company car, request/authorize the mission (including the financial side of it), see the timetable situation, display one's payslip and Form CUD showing total pay and tax deducted, or authorize permissions using smart-card authentication where necessary.

As a National Reference Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology, Programming and Information since 1991, the Institute also has the task of "developing information systems, at national and international level, for data handling, epidemiological analysis and surveillance activities".

Over the course of these years, many information systems have been created, to the great benefit of the technical-scientific community of the entire world, relating to the areas of veterinary medicine: Animal Health, Food Safety and Diagnostic Activity.

In January 2002 the Ministry of Health charged the Institute with the task of planning, creating and managing the computerized National DataBase for Livestock Registration.