Issue link: https://resources.esri.ca/i/747918
Harness the Power of GIS for Utilities | Esri Canada 1 Leverage the Power of Geography for Unprecedented Insight & Knowledge With the utility industry becoming increasingly global in scope, Canadian utilities experience the same challenges as those in the rest of the world. Faced with increasing demand for power with higher reliability, utilities are also subject to tighter controls on rates, more environmental restrictions, and the need to provide more renewable energy choices. Coupled with an aging workforce and asset base, utilities are under greater pressure than ever before. As a result, utilities need to transform their businesses to operate more efficiently and sustainably. Since energy is fundamental to society, any supply interruptions present a critical problem. In these situations, access to key information is absolutely essential to make informed reliable decisions. It is also essential for managing everyday operations. From planning for growth, to handling customer service issues, to managing construction projects, sound data management practices are required to ensure accuracy and data quality. Like other large, asset intensive industries, many utilities grapple with: • many sources of data, often in conflict with each other • little integration between data sources • poor access to various data stores for decision support • manual handoffs that create errors and backlogs within business processes Enter GIS A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. It provides an efficient platform for analyzing and managing assets, outages, work orders and customer information. At the forefront of GIS technology is Esri. Esri offers a market leading GIS solution that allows utility professionals to organize vast amounts of complex data into understandable visual representations in every branch of the utility industry. Drawing from our comprehensive suite of software and an array of support services that include technical support, training, and the expertise of our professional services consultants and business partners, Esri provides flexible and scalable solutions that are tailored to your organization's individual requirements. Our solutions are interoperable and designed to interface with existing databases, networks and enterprise resource planning systems. The types of organizations that have adopted Esri technology span the utility spectrum: • electric utilities • gas utilities • municipalities • independent system operators • regulatory bodies "By implementing an end-to-end integrated enterprise solution, we have single handedly improved operational efficiency, customer satisfaction and our network reliability. GIS-based requests climb 40% each year and we will continue to build innovative new applications to further enhance our productivity and services." Shelly Cunningham Senior Vice President, Engineering Services PowerStream