Jim Bedigan Software Developer

Richard Davies Investor Relations Ltd
Jim has been involved in the development of most of the bespoke software used by RDIR over the past 14 years. As the only technical person in the original team when the company was launched, he was responsible for creating all of the initial client-facing and back office applications.

The original version of RDIR’s main data preparation tool (Sharematch), which injects researched information into raw share register data, was written in Delphi connected to a MS Access database. The database was soon upgraded to MS SQL Server and the front-end was replaced with a C# ASP.NET WinForms application. A corresponding bespoke reporting tool for use by clients (IRInsight) was also initially written in Delphi with an Access database. Over time, client-specific modules were added to IRInsight, including some to manage meeting and contact details. These modules were subsequently replaced with an online CRM system, written in classic ASP. This CRM used XSLT combined with Word XML to create high quality reports. Eventually, the rest of IRInsight was also converted to a web application making use of MS SQL Server Reporting Services and merged once more with the CRM. After a number of major revisions and improvements, the current online client service (IRIntouch) now provides sophisticated reporting and CRM facilities, delivered via a C# ASP.NET platform.

He also created a number of other desktop applications using C# ASP.NET WinForms, the most significant of which is used to predict shareholder voting behaviour (Votematch).

He is currently working on a new version of another data gathering tool (OurWorld) used to request share register data from the issuing authorities. This is being written in C# WPF (MVVM) and features significant integration with MS Office programs (Word, Excel and Outlook) to automate various operations.

Jim is also working on a bespoke report generation engine, implemented as a set of service plug-ins on a remote server. The engine makes use of a message broker (Apache ActiveMQ) by which it receives report requests from the main web site (IRIntouch).  These requests are sent via web APIs, triggered by client-side JQuery code.  Reports are created by injecting data into MS Word templates using SoftArtisans WordWriter.   Various administration pages to allow report configuration are being written using C# ASP.NET MVC.

Aspen Travel
Jim began working on his first project for Aspen Travel over 9 years ago. This involved the creation of a travel web site integrated with an XML booking engine, written in C# ASP.NET WebForms. Later revisions of the site also included AJAX technology to improve user experience.

The next major project involved the creation of a web site to combine and deliver holiday details obtained from multiple suppliers. This was also written in C# ASP.NET WebForms. The data was gathered from a variety of sources, including XML feeds and web scraping applications. Utilities were written to import these different data formats into the central MS SQL Server database used to power the site.

To deal with cases where it was impossible to obtain holiday information in a suitable format he wrote a comprehensive bespoke CMS system to allow the data to be created and maintained manually. The CMS was also used to preview and publish the combined data contained in the database.

As part of this project, he also created a desktop application (C# ASP.NET WinForms) to log enquiries, allowing the travel agent team to share the incoming enquiries and monitor their progress.

Other projects have involved creating various sites using the Umbraco CMS system. He is currently employing Umbraco for the creation of a major new site.

All-rooms
Hotel find-and-book web site (became clearskyhotels.co.uk). 

Aspen Travel
Escorted tours travel web site.

Discrete Heat
Heating system e-commerce site. 

NLG Analytics
Customer registration and product serial number generation system.

Plastics Direct
Paypal integration and invoice generation system.

Pyramid Doors and Burns Furniture
Online shops.

HFI Group
Fitness training and recruitment web site. Integrated online payment processing and automated emailing service.

planetCV
Online CV preparation service.

Bestplate
Customer registration and product serial number generation system.

Bridal Company
Stock control reporting program

Choice Translations
CRM 

Discrete Heat
Heating system designer program 

Hestia Services
Automated form processing system
 
MB Machinery
CRM

OpeningDoors
Insurance company statistics reporting

Plastics Direct
Keyring insert designer program 

Rangers Lottery
Database conversion

Richard Davies Investor Relations Ltd
Share register analysis software used by public companies and their advisors to provide detailed information on the ownership of shares.

Fulcrum Research Ltd
As for Richard Davies Investor Relations Ltd.

Argus Vickers Ltd
As for Richard Davies Investor Relations Ltd. 

Unisys / Retrieval Enterprise Ltd
High-speed data retrieval software. Used by fraud detection organisations to search and cross-reference large datasets. Also, associated case management software.

Link Miles Ltd
Software to interactively model intensity data maps for use in flight simulator visual system. Maps are used to simulate the effects of aircraft landing lights.

Shoreham Airport, Sussex
Fully integrated accounting and administration system. Co-ordinates all data handled by the airport, performing functions such as aircraft movements logging, charging for airport services, account preparation and statistics gathering.

MEL
Graphical interface for aircraft landing aid system. Displays the position, bearing and flight profiles of arriving aircraft.

Sun Microsystems (C and C++) • Hewlett Packard (C) • Peritas (C++) • Link-Miles Ltd (C) • University of Brighton (PASCAL)

Consultancy
PEP Modular Computers • Lighthouse Electronics Ltd • Principle Group Ltd.

Technical and Marketing Support
Moving Terrain GmbH. Airborne 'moving map' navigation product used by both private and commercial pilots.

TechnoSpeak Ltd (Feb 93 - Present)
Self-employed Software Consultant and Trainer.
• See Clients section (above) for details of activities

Link Miles Ltd (Sept 83 - Feb 93) 
Programmer (Senior, Principal, Team Leader and Staff Engineer)
• Development of application software to create special effects for a series of 3-D, full-colour graphics, flight simulation visual systems. Effects simulated included weather, low visibility and aircraft weapons. Also software to generate terrain height (calculated in real-time from the visual database) for use by the host simulator system. 
• Investigation into Artificial Intelligence technology, including knowledge engineering and intelligent program building and evaluation.
• Set-up and control system for a new generation of image projector. Design areas included image distortion and smoothing techniques, data management and graphical user interfacing.
• Substantial experience of technical leadership of various teams (up to 7 engineers). 

Cap Sogeti Logiciel (Oct 82 - Aug 83) 
Ingenieur grade II 
• Development of application software for video image processing system to manage automated testing and sorting of mass produced items.
• Development of application software for 'super telex' system. 

MEL (Sept 79 - Oct 82)
Field Support Engineer / Engineering Systems Programmer
• Design and construction of test equipment for use with a digital/microwave aircraft landing aid system. Also participation in development trials and demonstrations of the landing aid, involving experience of working in airborne and offshore environments. 
• Development of real-time application software for microwave based avionics and naval systems.