eXpanded Media created a completely integrated trajectory for VDAB’s databases and file servers. The solution went beyond automation of categorization. It offered also effortless matching of posted curriculum vitae with job openings.

This integration translated into increased expeditiousness and offered correct and relevant service to the VDAB’s target groups. The same approach has been used for the intranet and the call centre of the VDAB.

The VDAB (de Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeids Bemiddeling) is the unemployment office for Flanders. Its main function is matching of posted vacancies with files of job seekers in Flanders and this core service has been made visible through the website and the relevant database.

At a certain point it became practically impossible to maintain and manage all data for vacancies and job seekers in the structured manner. The vacancies and curriculum vitae were delivered digitally but in various formats. As a result, the database of the VDAB contained not only structured fields but also documents in static HTML, Microsoft Word or PDF format and searching and matching of the vacancies with curriculum vitae became rather complicated.

Further complication came from a demand for registering education levels and diplomas, which did not align themselves with the categories, set up within the structure of the VDAB. On the other hand, businesses were asking for unique profiles which the existing structure could not support. At times, a person suited for a specific vacancy was not selected by the system because the education level was unknown.

Manual entry of keywords in the system was time consuming and labor intensive and, above all, consistency of data could not be maintained because the input was based on interpretation of provided information. Furthermore, not only the field title but also field content was needed for matching between the CV and the job opening.

To provide a solution, the VDAB opted for the Autonomy. The Autonomy delivers the knowledge management and search software based on a neural principle. This means that the content of the data (context) is defined not only by the keywords (although the Autonomy is able to combine them to create expansive search criteria) but also on concepts. The software provides for categorization of data and an implicit and explicit form of user’s profile can be created. Thus the Autonomy allows expansion of search beyond the keyword searches to natural language queries. In this way the number of search results is higher and relevance increased.

eXpanded Media is a certified business partner of Autonomy in Belgium and Luxembourg. eXpanded Media numerous to develop partnership with Autonomy and it is considered to be one of the most extensive knowledge centres in Belgium in the field of knowledge management, including Autonomy technology. For the VDAB eXpanded Media created a complete integration process of the core databases and fileservers. The goal was not only to automate but also categorize while allowing matching process between posted job openings and curriculum vitae.

This process has been developed and implemented within two months. Currently the system works as follows: businesses send in the vacancy postings and jobseekers send through their curriculum vitae. During the input this mechanism accelerated the work process and reduced costs by decreasing amount of maintenance needed for providing correct and relevant services to the VDAB’s target groups. The same approach has been used for the intranet and the call center of the VDAB.

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