e-CertNL
The goal was to develop a prototype web application to modernize and structure the export certification process, improving collaboration between the Expertise and Content Management teams and providing better task tracking.
đź“Ś Project specifications
- Goal:
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To develop a prototype solution for improving the internal export certification process at the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).
- Scope:
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- The prototype web application could be developed using any programming languages or tools, as long as it is hosted and accessible for employee testing.
- The focus would not include addressing the issue of country import laws being saved and updated in Word documents, as this is being handled in a parallel project.
- Research the feasibility of using AI to automate specific tasks within the workflow, with implementation considered only if time permits.
- Timeline:
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15 Weeks
🖥️ Technical Specifications
- Technologies, tools and frameworks used:
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- Django
- Render
- Github with Github Actions and Code Scanner
- Vulnerability Scanners from Pentest Tools
- Selenium
- Jupyter Notebook
🎯 Results
The research into AI evolved into exploring how NLP technologies could detect and summarize changes in documents. This involved conducting a trend and product analysis, followed by testing the most promising solution (LLMs) in a Jupyter Notebook. Models like ChatGPT demonstrated the best performance in these tests. However, due to time constraints, integrating AI or NLP into the final prototype was not feasible.
The final prototype was well-received during testing with the two teams. It was developed as a Kanban-style Django web application, featuring role-based access control to ensure employees could only access their assigned tasks. Additional features included automated functional testing, security testing and hosting on Render.
Image 1: The homepage of the application, which houses the kanban board.
Image 2: The detail page of a task.
Image 3: The add/edit page of a task.
Image 4: The archive page, which houses all the archived tasks.
Image 5: The detail page of an archived task.
đź’ Reflection
This project was an enlightening experience, offering insights into a sector and workflow I had never encountered before. I gained a deep understanding of the complexities of export certification and how structured collaboration can solve real-world problems.
While writing essays on topics like DevOps and testing wasn’t as exciting as programming, these tasks proved essential. They helped refine our approach, improved the application’s quality, and made the development process smoother and more efficient.
Developing the application itself was both enjoyable and rewarding. Seeing the positive reactions from the teams during the final presentation was a highlight, making all the effort and learning worthwhile.