Implementing a web-based decision support system for macro-econometric models

This paper describes how a completely web-based and model-driven Decision Support System was developed in order to allow decision makers and economic planners to interact directly with a macro-econometric model. The system is made up of three integrated components: a Dialogue Management System (DMS), a Model-Based Management System (MBMS) and a Database Management System (DBMS), and was developed using a mix of Web-based technologies that included the use of Java Servlets on the server-side and Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language (DHTML) on the client-side. The interactive and user-friendly screens that were developed present economic data in an organized and logical manner, allowing users to set policies and study their impacts on the economy through live sessions over the web. The security scheme that was also developed prevents unauthorized access to the proprietary econometric models and data, encrypts information prior to transmitting it across the web, tracks interactive user sessions and sets inactive timeout periods for logging off users.