This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a product that enables automated access to any relational database via the web - a web-browser for non-technical users; XML/JSON/CSV for more technical users who wish to use the data in their own applications. The system will first intergotate and determine a database's contents and allow the owner to select access levels. Researchers can then interact with the data or share references to data sets with a URL. The key innovation is a systematic scheme for automatically mapping any relational database into a set of URLs. Successful completion of this project will liberate valuable data trapped in research systems for collaboration and analysis.
While tools exist for web-enabling specific databases, most are designed for database administrators or developers. The Prometheus Internet Database Server will target non-technical users who need to focus on research instead of technical problems. Unlike existing solutions that are designed for specific products, Prometheus' system will be based on open source technology for use with data sources of unknown type and quality. As a result, researchers and the general public can utilize the Internet to access and disseminate disparate data that is currently stored in multiple databases - a task that cannot readily be accomplished by currently-available products.
