Seth Grimes has worked for over twenty years in data-systems architecture and design, specializing in systems for analysis and management of social, demographic, economic, and marketing statistics and related use of the Internet. This work encompasses decision support, business intelligence, data mining, data warehousing, and statistics.
He is also contributing editor and Breakthrough Analysis columnist for Intelligent Enterprise magazine and writes and speaks on technology trends, business intelligence, data management and analysis systems, text mining, open-source analytics, and similar topics.
Grimes founded Alta Plana Corporation, a Washington DC area consultancy, in September, 1997. Current projects include creation of a pilot Tax Stats Web site for the Statistics of Income Division of the Internal Revenue Service, statistical support for Datos IR, Venezuela's leading custom market-research firm, and implementing a business-intelligence program for American Institute of Architects.
Notable recent (2003-) projects have included market-positioning consulting for Pentaho, an open-source business intelligence vendor, assisting the Bureau of Transportation Statistics with survey dissemination, providing analytical support to strategic market-research firm Henry Rak Consulting Partners, statistical processing and dissemination consulting at the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics, and five and one-half years at the US Census Bureau, where Alta Plana designed and led the programming team for the Census 2000 analysis system.
Grimes was previously Director of Server Technologies at Magnet Interactive Communications, a now-defunct new media and Internet-services company in Georgetown, with hands-on responsibility for database design and administration across the company's projects. He also served Technical Director on a number of projects -- a business-to-business extranet for FedEx, the Radisson Hotels and Mercedes-Benz (NA) Web sites -- and helped build sites for Nissan, Kellogg's, and National Geographic.
Grimes's prior position, from 1995 to 1996, was as a consultant at the International Monetary Fund, where he managed the selection of new desktop economic time-series management software and developed a Web system for the publication of international economic information called the Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board. Before joining the Fund, Grimes worked from 1992 to 1995 for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris. In addition to working on OECD statistical databases, he was the official Internet evangelist and did initial services planning. As at the IMF, Grimes's primary OECD task was with economic data systems -- architecture development, software evaluation, and proof-of-concept testing -- including hands-on coding of innovative facilities including remote-client middleware to allow access to Unisys mainframe DBs from Unix and Windows clients.
Prior to his OECD stint, Grimes worked as a contractor at US government agencies including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Naval Surface Weapons Center. His professional affiliations include the American Statistical Association, the Association for Computing Machinery, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, and the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics.
Grimes earned a master's in mathematics at the Univ. of Washington in Seattle and a bachelor's in mathematics and philosophy at Wesleyan Univ. in Middletown, Connecticut. He and family reside in Takoma Park, Maryland near Washington D.C., where he is active in local politics and community affairs.
To contact Seth Grimes, write grimes (at) altaplana.com or call 301-270-0795.