Iowa State Occupational Information Coordinating Committee

Iowa Department of Economic Development

200 East Grand Avenue

Des Moines, Iowa 50309

Telephone (515)281-8076

The National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) is a federal multi-agency cooperative program involving a number of federal agencies and programs. NOICC is charged, among other responsibilities, with supporting the development of Occupational Information Systems by the states.

An early step in OIS support was the development of the Vocational Preparation and Occupations (VPO) crosswalk linking occupations and vocational training programs. The database was developed in 1979 to enable the development of a publication containing those links. Soon, however, demand for the database outstripped NOICC's staff and data processing resources, and NOICC turned to the Iowa SOICC to provide products and services based on the VPO to the states. These services were provided under small non-competitive grants starting in 1983. In 1985 NOICC announced a competitive request for proposals for operation of the National Crosswalk Service Center. The grant was awarded to the Iowa SOICC for a three-year period.

Competition for the NCSC was reopened for proposals early in 1988, with the Iowa SOICC once again awarded the contract. This status report covers the first eleven months of the first year of the second competitive grant.

Demand for NCSC products and services increased greatly during the first year of the current grant. NCSC staff received 272 request for products and services during the year, up 59 percent from the previous year. Part of this increase is cyclical and can be attributed to the release of a new version of the NOICC Master Crosswalk just before the period began. However, an increasing number of requests resulted from referrals to the NCSC by NOICC, BLS and others. The number of requests for NCSC services during each of the past six years is presented below.

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* All years are calendar years except 1988 (4/1/88 to 3/31/89)

Providing products and services to the NOICC/SOICC Network and others, along with the maintenance of the NOICC Master Crosswalk, is the most critical part of the project and has demanded the bulk of the resources expended. The Iowa SOICC has been providing products and services based on the NOICC Master Crosswalk and other occupational databases for nearly five years. During the first year of the current grant, the Iowa SOICC, through the NCSC, has responded to nearly 300 requests for information, and an equal or greater number of requests for technical assistance and advice. During this period, a number of changes have been evident:

NOICC Master Crosswalk

SOC Career Profiles

CIP Manual

OES Survey Dictionary

1987 OES National Matrix

Military Occupational and Training Data

DOT Definitions (90% complete)

AMA CAHEA Database

NOICC Prototype Units of Analysis

Over half of the requests received were from members of the NOICC/SOICC network. Requests from NOICC and its member agencies totaled 20 during the period, supporting a number of NOICC initiatives and constituencies. A summary of some of the significant requests follows:

Requests for products and services were received from 48 different SOICC's during the year. Of those SOICC's, 22 used their entire $200 credit and 14 were billed for additional services. Some trends were also evident among SOICC users of the NCSC. First, SOICC's are much like other users, and are increasing their use of microcomputer products. Second, demand for file transfer services by SOICC's appears to be holding steady or increasing. With a planned emphasis on alerting SOICC staff to the availability of these services, this could be an important part of the NCSC's function.

The NCSC supported a number of NOICC initiatives during the year. A brief summary of this support follows:

NCSC staff met with staff from BLS, the Utah Occupational Projections Field Center and other states to develop a database to permit enhanced, more detailed estimates of self-employed and unpaid family workers by states using the Micro Matrix occupational projections system.

The NCSC distributed the Military Occupational and Training Data in a microcomputer format to facilitate the inclusion of military occupational information into Career Information Delivery Systems. The NCSC also developed special crosswalk reports incorporating portions of the MOTD for several CIDS developers.

During the first year of this grant, NCSC staff also accomplished a number of other significant projects, including:

Responsibility for maintenance of the DoD Master Crosswalk was successfully transferred to the Defense Manpower Data Center. The DoD Master Crosswalk was developed by the Iowa SOICC and a subcontractor under a grant from NOICC. The DoD expressed an interest in continued maintenance of the database by DMDC, and files containing the NOICC Master Crosswalk and programs to aid in the updating of the DoD crosswalk were provided, along with documentation, to DMDC.

The NCSC began operation of an electronic bulletin board service. This service allows users with access to a microcomputer, modem and communications software to call the service and obtain files containing occupational information developed by the NCSC. Because of computer hardware limitations, the service was initially available only during non-business hours. However, acquisition of an additional computer has permitted the system to operate around the clock. Daytime availability, a greater selection of files and increased publicity about the availability of the system is expected to increase usage during the second year of the grant. A listing of the files available follows:

The NCSC increased its microcomputer capacity in order to better deal with the growing demand for PC products. Procurement included one Compaq Deskpro 386/20 microcomputer and network software and hardware. This permits two NCSC staff to have access to the files stored on the network file server. Some further expansion is still desirable, however, the acquisitions described above represent a major advance. The increased processing power and storage of the Compaq computer have allowed an increasing number of requests to be run on the microcomputer, utilizing either Foxbase of SAS/PC.

The NCSC began development of software for processing the NOICC Master Crosswalk on microcomputers. Development of the initial version of the software was largely completed during the period.

NCSC staff participated in a number of training sessions and conferences, including:

Plans and Expectations

The NCSC will continue to provide support to NOICC, its member agencies and initiatives. Products and services will be furnished to NOICC at no cost, and NCSC staff will work with NOICC to develop products which may meet needs of its member agencies. Technical support will be provided to a number of NOICC initiatives, including the Micro Matrix system, CIVTRAIN and COLMIS. In addition, the NCSC will emphasize its function as a clearinghouse for national databases which are useful to the NOICC/SOICC network, including military separatees, the AMA CAHEA database and the Institutional Characteristics file from IPEDS.

The NCSC will continue to provide up to $200 worth of products and services to each SOICC upon request. In addition, the center will emphasize its file transfer capabilities in an effort to aid SOICC's data development efforts.

Following an analysis of calendar 1988 mainframe data processing costs (see appendix), a revised pricing structure will be implemented. The only significant changes will occur in the prices of microcomputer products, which will generally decline. The revised pricing structure appears below:

As NOICC plans for its needs for data from the 1990 census, the NCSC is in a unique position to analyze the ways in which the data from the previous census was used by the NOICC/SOICC network, and to help determine what types of data will be needed from the next census.

The NCSC shall continue development of software for processing the NOICC Master Crosswalk on microcomputers. The initial version of the program and documentation will be made available to the network, and enhancements will be planned based on feedback received from users. Additional features will be developed to allow users to display the narrative descriptions of training programs and occupations from the Classification of Instructional Programs and Dictionary of Occupational Titles. The addition of these two features will increase the storage requirements for the total system to nearly 30 MB. Because few users will have this much storage to devote to this use, the system will be designed so that users can taylor system features and storage requirements to their needs.

The NCSC shall continue to operate the electronic bulletin board and to develop files for the system. An increasing effort will be made to publicize the existence of this service.

The NCSC will survey the states to update information on features in the current microcomputer OIS's. Should funding be available, the NCSC may also contract for the development or adaptation of one of the current state systems to be the new NOICC prototype OIS.

The NCSC shall continue to upgrade its data processing capabilities. Initial plans call for the following acquisitions during the second year of the grant:

9-track tape drive

Connection of two more work stations to the network

Laptop computer for use at conferences

Increased storage for network file server

NCSC staff will present information about NOICC, the NCSC and the NOICC Master Crosswalk at conferences at which it is appropriate, including the annual SOICC Directors' Conference, the national technical conference and others. The communications services subcontractor will identify those annual meetings and conferences which would be appropriate.