Behind the Scenes of METI’s Complete Database Redesign

In Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) works on developing Japan’s economy and strengthening the public sector. It’s an essential operation — one that could be made considerably easier and more progressive with the use of the right technology. And while METI had a database with thousands of business case studies, it posed more problems than solutions.

Designing and developing a modern database for METI

Whereas such a database could be a major asset for Japan’s economy by helping business owners navigate important decisions and obstacles, the existing database contained case studies in the form of hard-to-search PDFs. It also enabled users to create and manage content on an individual basis (and in a variety of formats), leading to redundancies and abandonment.

METI wanted a more modern, robust, and consistent database experience for users. So TC3, Topcoder’s premier consultancy partner in Japan, approached them with the idea of design and prototyping through Topcoder. See how we gave METI’s database a complete redesign in less than three weeks — and helped give Japan’s economy a truly modern digital asset.

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A look at the top 3 submissions

1st place (the winner!):

2nd place:

3rd place:

Have a development project coming up? Read our whitepaper and decide for yourself whether in-house developers, outsourcing, or crowdsourcing is the way to go.