FOUNDATION FRAMEWORK and any mistake can lead to outages affecting customers and businesses .
Thankfully , GIS are an essential tool in helping energy companies to visualise , trace and maintain all assets within their entire network . Understanding the spatial relationship of all these assets is vital to document and manage maintenance when it comes to upgrading outdated infrastructure .
Modern GIS apps can help energy organisations prioritise what needs to be replaced first , based on historical evidence and predictive analytics . These apps can support the coordination of multiple organisations throughout the planning , design , and construction phases of these projects . GIS apps can also help future-proof infrastructure against becoming outdated , as they can be used to help plan its retirement .
Advancements in GIS are also making the complicated process of modernisation easier . In the past , GIS systems required large , heavy
desktop workstations that are increasingly expensive to deploy and maintain . Now , web and mobile-ready GIS apps that run on a software-as-a-service model and don ’ t require significant hardware investments are available , lowering total cost of ownership for energy organisations , and making it easier and cheaper to have full asset visibility within a network in the hands of both field and back-office workers . These modern GIS solutions also take advantage of cloud infrastructure and all the benefits that technology brings , such as flexibility , customisation , and cost-effectiveness .
Andy Berry , CEO of VertiGIS
Solving the modernisation problem
The issue of outdated energy infrastructure is a global one , however each country has its own unique pressures when it comes to trying to solve the problem . In the UK , reinvestment in upgrading utilities networks like the power grid is one of the main drivers behind fixing these problems . While it remains to be seen how effective the GB Energy initiative will be , on paper it sounds like a step in the right direction .
Once energy organisations start to bring their infrastructure in line with modern standards , GIS technology will allow them to be primed to deliver infrastructure improvements quickly and effectively that will have a positive impact on energy delivery and resilience . �
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