Technical debt in the code base is one thing, but what to do about technical debt in the database? When a production system hasn't been touched in years, the data models can get nasty and restoring order can seem impossible. How do you untangle the mess and restore the database to efficient service?
Marianne Bellotti is a software engineer and team lead specializing in data infrastructure and resilient engineering. After several years working as a freelance software developer, she joined the staff of the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as Senior Software Engineer on the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) the UN’s largest open data platform. She entered government service in 2015 through United States Digital Service to serve as technical lead for the State Department Digital Service. At USDS she distinguished herself on the Rapid Response team, a SWAT team like body that assists with outages, security incidents and significant project delays.