Real World Access (28)

One of a series of articles about where Microsoft Office Access applications have found a real-world niche.

 John Mishefske's Homeland Security

This application, which I developed in 2004, searches a list of designated parties with whom US persons are prohibited from conducting business transactions.

It periodically automatically retrieves the U.S. Treasury list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN).

It then provides a search facility and an encrypted, signed, non-refutable report, proving the name was checked on a particular date.  This is in compliance with federal legal requirements.

The key to the application was its simplicity - salespeople needed to do a quick check and get results immediately. No waiting for web site or checking printed reports for a particular name, and you could check names without an Internet connection (though you needed one to get updates).

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