GeoDigital Advanced Solutions at DistribuTECH 2020

A BIG THANK YOU to Sara Sankowich, Manager Forestry Operations & Sustainability at Unitil for sharing her #Digitalsolution for storm resiliency combining #GeoDigital data & analytics ….

GeoDigital launches 3D virtual decision-making platform for transmission and distribution utilities

DISTRIBUTECH, Orlando, Fla. – February 8, 2016 – GeoDigital International Inc., a leader in 3D services and geospatial intelligence software, today introduced GeoDigital Insight, which enables utilities to remotely monitor and optimize their vast networks of transmission and distribution lines. GeoDigital Insight is a proprietary combination of 3D remote-sensing, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and mobile work software that digitizes business processes for inspecting poles, wires, and the environment that surrounds these linear assets.

GeoDigital serves a number of utilities using the end-to-end components of the GeoDigital Insight platform to manage their transmission networks. Today’s launch extends this capability to distribution networks, supporting asset inspections, as well as joint-use, vegetation-clearance and pole-loading analyses, among other processes. The company is working with a number of leading distribution utilities on pilots of the technology.

“With ‘Energy 2030’ looming, utilities are under tremendous pressure to extract as much productivity as possible from their assets, investing billions to make grids smarter and keep the lights on. But when it comes to understanding the condition of their largest linear assets – the poles and wires grid – utilities are still largely in the dark,” said Chris Warrington, GeoDigital president and CEO. “By gaining better situational awareness and digitally connecting this linear asset network, we believe North American utilities could save around $2 billion. Such total grid visibility would enable utilities to preempt repairs, increase the safety of field crews, and reduce the risk of outages.”

 GeoDigital Insight will help utilities move from cyclical to condition-based inspections by remotely inspecting assets with high-resolution imagery and spatial intelligence. A digital record of degrading infrastructure can optimize grid investment decisions, while insights on asset conditions can supplement information from smart-grid-connected equipment in the network.

GeoDigital Insight also predicts and prioritizes outage risks posed by trees and other vegetation.

By digitizing regular vegetation-management inspections, utilities are able to efficiently manage thousands of miles of power lines and reduce human-exposure with labor-intensive field inspection methods that remain largely manual. Similarly, utilities can use GeoDigital Insight to review infrastructure from an engineering perspective and ensure compliance with clearance regulations.

To date, GeoDigital has mapped some 430,000 miles of transmission lines – data that pinpoints the precise location and condition of 1.9 million assets. GeoDigital collects the data via sophisticated sensors aboard helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, UAVs and ground-based methods.  The company’s Autonomous Driving unit is using similar technology to build a digital road map of North America’s multi-lane highways to guide self-driving vehicles.

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 About GeoDigital
GeoDigital is a 3D data and spatial intelligence software company. Precision digital blueprints for infrastructure such as energy and roads enable virtual decisions that drive safety, reliability and productivity. This spatial framework enables the Internet of Things to interact with previously disconnected infrastructure, keeping the virtual environment current with real-world conditions using newly sensed and crowdsourced data. Its flagship solution for utilities, GeoDigital Insight, unlocks new levels of situational awareness on the health of linear grid assets and recommends decisions that impact reliability, cost, safety and compliance. GeoDigital is using this proven technology to make safe and smooth autonomous driving a reality with its Digital Driving platform – North America’s largest digital road and cutting-edge on-board spatial awareness software. With a track record for 3D innovation since 2005, Atlanta-based GeoDigital has operations in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Visit geodigital.com to find out more.

PR Contact:
Sean Healy, Healy Corporate Communications
sean@healycorp.com
201-857-2520 or 201-218-2039 (cell)

BPA Adopts GeoDigital Tech To Protect Grid Against Vegetation Growth

GeoDigital featured in T&D World Magazine article about Bonneville Power Administration selecting the GeoDigital mapping and data analytics solution to boost the cost-effectiveness of the utility’s vegetation-management program.

Read the article here:

http://tdworld.com/news/bpa-adopts-geodigital-tech-protect-grid-against-vegetation-growth

Bonneville: Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has selected the GeoDigital mapping and data analytics solution to boost the cost-effectiveness of the utility’s vegetation-management program.

  • Advanced technology combats greatest threat to the power grid: tree limbs and vegetation
  • Predictive analytics prioritizes vegetation threats for mobile-enabled field crews
  • Boosts system reliability and productivity on thousands of miles of transmission lines

Atlanta – December 9, 2015 – GeoDigital International Inc., a leader in big spatial data and analytics, today announced that Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has selected the GeoDigital mapping and data analytics solution to boost the cost-effectiveness of the utility’s vegetation-management program. BPA is a federal agency that markets and transmits electricity in the Pacific Northwest.

The vegetation solution, built by Atlanta’s GeoDigital, will assist BPA in assessing and managing the growth of trees and other vegetation surrounding 15,000 miles of power-transmission lines. BPA’s decision to invest in spatial data and analytics is part of its public service commitment to efficiently deliver high reliability with environmental stewardship.

“BPA was looking to collect spatial data to proactively prevent vegetation-related outages,” said Chuck Sheppard, transmission strategy portfolio manager for BPA. “With such detailed insights, the benefits of spatial data are across the board – from accurately identifying and prioritizing risks to the grid and their exact locations, to mobile-enabling our workforce for safer and more efficient work in the field.

“It will also reduce vegetation-management program costs, potentially pre-empt outages, and simplify compliance with FAC003-3 rules on vegetation clearances,” he said.

BPA’s service area comprises 300,000 square miles across eight states, where the power agency operates and maintains about 75 percent of the high-voltage power-transmission lines. Preventing vegetation encroachment is a complex task due to the region’s rural and extreme terrain, requiring frequent manual inspections by hundreds of field crews employed by the utility or contracting service companies.

GeoDigital’s vegetation solution provides analytics and work-management software to predict and prioritize vegetation issues that pose outage risks and set priority maintenance issues. By digitizing vegetation management, utilities can more efficiently manage thousands of miles of power lines in remote locations.

“Once a low-profile function, vegetation management is of paramount importance to energy providers,” said Chris Warrington, GeoDigital president and CEO. “Many of the country’s most trusted and respected power companies, like BPA, are turning to us to help transform their vegetation-management operations. BPA, a longtime customer of ours, chose to expand its footprint with GeoDigital. We look forward to helping BPA generate actionable insights — continually raising the bar in delivering energy to consumers reliably, cost-effectively and with environmental responsibility.”

About Bonneville Power Administration
The Bonneville Power Administration, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is a nonprofit federal power marketer that sells wholesale electricity from 31 federal dams and one nuclear plant to 142 Northwest electric utilities, serving millions of consumers and businesses in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana and parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. BPA delivers power via more than 15,000 circuit miles of high voltage lines and 259 substations to 490 transmission customers. In all, BPA markets about a third of the electricity consumed in the Northwest and operates three-quarters of the region’s high-voltage transmission grid. BPA also funds one of the largest fish and wildlife programs in the world, and, with its partners, pursues cost-effective energy savings and operational solutions that help maintain affordable, reliable and carbon-free electric power for the Northwest. www.bpa.gov

About GeoDigital
GeoDigital, a big spatial data and insight company, generates transformational insights from remote-sensed data, 3D data analytics and geospatial software. From ensuring the reliable delivery of power by better managing critical infrastructure and the vegetation that surrounds it, to paving the way for autonomous cars with high-precision digital roads, GeoDigital is expanding the frontiers of our digital planet to deliver real-world benefits.
Founded in 2005, GeoDigital operates in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Its investors include NGP Energy Technology Partners, North Sky Capital, EnerTech Capital and Emerald Technology Ventures.

GeoDigital names auto industry veteran to lead 3D mapping & self-driving vehicles business unit

  • Chris Thibodeau to head Autonomous Driving business
  • Creating ultra-precise digital road map of North America
  • Largest independent mapping platform for mass-produced autonomous vehicles

ATLANTA – September 10, 2015 – GeoDigital International Inc., a leader in big spatial data and analytics, today announced that auto industry veteran Chris Thibodeau will join its executive team as senior vice president and general manager of the company’s Autonomous Driving business unit.

Thibodeau will oversee GeoDigital’s “digital roads” program that’s digitizing North America’s roads, the largest effort yet to build an independent mapping platform for mass-produced self-driving vehicles.

Thibodeau also will be responsible for driving innovation and technological advances in autonomous driving, while leveraging GeoDigital’s big spatial data analytics expertise to expand the company’s solutions as connected-car, intelligent-sensing and artificial-recognition technologies continue to evolve.

Using high-definition imagery and precision technology called LiDAR — already proven in the utility, rail and defense industries — GeoDigital is creating the industry’s most detailed 3D maps capable of determining positional accuracy within centimeters. The company’s digital roads capture data on road surface, curvature, lane measurements, barrier and bridge position, signage, and other conditions crucial to the safe and smooth driving of autonomous cars.

The company also has patent-pending technology to keep the digital road database current by using the industrial cloud to collect data from cars equipped with sensors. Using GeoDigital’s big spatial data and analytics expertise, changes to roadways will be integrated to the company’s master maps.

“We’re excited that Chris is joining our leadership team,” said Chris Warrington, President and CEO of GeoDigital. “The depth of his experience in automotive technology and connected cars further strengthens GeoDigital’s position as a market leader in North America’s autonomous driving market. Chris is joining us at a key stage in GeoDigital’s evolution. Chris will help drive increased value for our existing automotive industry customers and herald a new era of innovation and investment as GeoDigital helps make mass-produced autonomous vehicles a reality.”

“Unlike common navigation maps, autonomous vehicles will require a much higher level of 3D detail,” said Thibodeau. “GeoDigital is building the most precise digital road map ever created – with a level of precision that outstrips the engineering-grade surveys used to construct North America’s roads in the first place. GeoDigital’s unique big spatial data and analytics experience provides an ideal platform to innovate as connected cars, remote sensing and artificial intelligence technologies converge. I’m looking forward to helping GeoDigital continue to push new frontiers in support of the autonomous driving industry.”

Most recently, Thibodeau was Vice President and General Manager of Infotainment for the Americas at Harman International Industries, which markets audio, visual and entertainment systems to automakers and consumers. Before joining Harman, Thibodeau held executive level roles at both Ford and General Motors. At Ford, Thibodeau was responsible for Global Product Planning and Strategy – Electrical User Interface and Connectivity. At General Motors, Thibodeau was responsible for the design and development of the electrical architecture and systems engineering for “advanced, connected vehicles.” Thibodeau began his career in Ford’s Electronics operations which eventually became Visteon, where he designed and executed various electrical products including audio and infotainment applications for the automotive industry.

Thibodeau holds two U.S. patents. He also serves as Vice Chairman of Square One Education Network, a provider of experiential learning for K-12 students and teachers in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

GeoDigital’s Leadership Role in Autonomous Vehicle Market Highlighted in The Washington Post

GeoDigital featured in a Washington Post article by Matt McFarland “Can GM be a disruptor in the self-driving car wars?”

Read the article here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/10/02/can-gm-be-a-disruptor-in-the-self-driving-car-wars/

Tech leader in 3D mapping & spatial data analytics to establish north american headquarters in Atlanta

Privately-Held GeoDigital to Create Approximately 50 High-Tech Jobs by Year-End 2016

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) today announced that GeoDigital International Inc., a leader in big spatial data and analytics, will move its North American headquarters from Canada to Atlanta, creating approximately 50 new high-tech jobs in Fulton County over the next year. Based in Ontario since its founding in 2005, GeoDigital will move its headquarters to an 11,200-square-foot, state-of-the-art office space in Atlantic Station.

“Georgia is a hub for headquarter relocations – especially for technology companies,” said GDEcD Commissioner Chris Carr. “Since the beginning of our fiscal year, which concluded not even three weeks ago, we have announced ten corporate headquarter relocations and more than 4,200 technology jobs in Georgia. It’s clear that fast-growing global companies such as GeoDigital are finding our state the ideal location to better reach customers nationwide.”

The newly created jobs will encompass a number of functions, including executive management, information technology, research and development, sales, marketing, project management, finance and accounting, and human resources. To help fill future employment opportunities, GeoDigital plans to work with Kennesaw State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology to create apprenticeship programs.

GeoDigital is at the forefront of the fast-growing autonomous, or self-driving, vehicle industry. Using precision technology called LiDAR, a kind of ‘laser range finder’, combined with high-definition imagery, GeoDigital is creating the industry’s most detailed 3D maps of the entire North American highway system. These ‘digital roads’ include data on topography, road surfaces, lanes, and other information critical to the safe and smooth driving experience of autonomous cars. GeoDigital is providing these services to a major automaker, as well as several Tier 1 suppliers.

GeoDigital is also using this technology to help efficiently inspect thousands of miles of power lines for asset and vegetation issues, serving the vast majority of the country’s largest utility companies, including PPL, Xcel Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority, and many of the Southern Company entities. By digitizing vegetation management, utility companies can better predict and respond to areas that are at risk of causing outages and better inform their crews while keeping them safer. GeoDigital solutions also assist compliancy with recent federal regulation to protect the nation’s power grid against vegetation outages.

“GeoDigital is excited to join and add to the vibrant mix of Atlanta-based technology employers,” said Chris Warrington, president and CEO of GeoDigital. “Given our growth and the tremendous market potential for GeoDigital’s big spatial data and analytics software, we simply got to the point where we needed greater access to high-tech talent and international travel routes. Atlanta meets both of those needs. Equally important, the region will be a great place to live and work for our team.”
Shirlynn Brownell, GDEcD project manager, assisted GeoDigital on behalf of Georgia and partnered with the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Georgia Power.

“GeoDigital’s headquarters relocation speaks to the talent, innovation and growth coming out of the technology ecosystem in metro Atlanta,” said Brian P. McGowan, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “We are thrilled to welcome GeoDigital to the growing base of international companies that are choosing Atlanta as their operating hub and look forward to working with the team as they grow their presence in the region.”

About GeoDigital
GeoDigital, a leader in big spatial data and analytics software, is transforming industries by unlocking the power of spatial insight. Big spatial data combines precise 3D maps – built on remote sensing and imaging technologies such as LiDAR – with analytics software to solve complex geospatial challenges. GeoDigital then adds location-based work management software to turn that geospatial insight into action for safer, more efficient remote operations. From ensuring the reliable delivery of power by better managing critical infrastructure and the vegetation that surrounds it, to paving the way for autonomous cars with digital roads, GeoDigital is expanding the frontiers of our digital planet to deliver real-world benefits.
Founded in 2005, GeoDigital operates in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Its investors include NGP Energy Technology Partners, North Sky Capital, EnerTech Capital and Emerald Technology Ventures. Visitwww.geodigital.com to find out more.

About the Georgia Department of Economic Development
The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state’s sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, align workforce education and training with in-demand jobs, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a destination for arts and location for film, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.www.georgia.org

GEODIGITAL, FLŌT SYSTEMS, & ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS INC. (ECI) partner for UAV based utility inspection program

First comprehensive remote asset inspection program combines UAV-collected data, software and utility expertise to safely and efficiently perform virtual inspections

GeoDigital, FLōT Systems, and Environmental Consultants Inc. (ECI) have formed a partnership to bring utilities remote asset inspection capabilities via Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) – also known as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The program combines high-resolution imagery collected by FLōT Systems’ beyond line-of-sight capable UAV, analytics and location-based work management software from GeoDigital, and virtual inspection of those images with utility vegetation and asset management expertise from ECI.

For the first time, utilities will be able to assess critical infrastructure on both electric distribution and transmission facilities, as well as on pipelines by using UAV’s, commonly known as drones, to pinpoint possible risks to their infrastructure. In doing so, utilities can improve service reliability, increase employee and public safety and best ensure regulatory compliance.

“We believe UAS will become an invaluable tool in helping utilities manage their infrastructure and the environment around it,” said FLōT Systems’ CEO Chris Vallier. “As specialists in the utility industry, we have been developing the ability to utilize long-range unmanned aircrafts to more safely and efficiently collect higher value facility information than with traditional methods.” With respect to the regulatory environment, Mr. Vallier goes on to say, “We understand how to operate within the current regulatory framework while helping our clients prepare for full-scale commercial activity in the near future.”

“By combining UAV collection and utility inspection expertise with GeoDigital’s virtual asset inspection software, utilities can now enhance their inspection programs by deriving actionable insights from big geospatial data,” said Chris Warrington, President and CEO at GeoDigital. “Virtual inspections use geospatial data, which can now be collected more frequently and safely, so utilities can prioritize remote asset maintenance and repairs using up-to-date data. This geospatially-precise work planning increases reliability and enables safer, more efficient field crew deployments. By going to digital inspections and having a history of all work activity, utilities can achieve significant process improvements and cost savings.”

“Because vegetation and equipment-caused failures are among the top causes of electric distribution system interruptions, our team has focused on providing virtual facility and vegetation inspections as our first end-to-end solution,” said Jim Downie, Executive Vice President of ECI. “For example, imagery collected to virtually identify high-risk trees or equipment maintenance needs can be tracked back to the field using GeoDigital location-based work management software. This is just the first example of the common vision of ECI, GeoDigital and FLōT to enable informed digital decisions that drive real returns for electric and gas utilities and their customers. We anticipate the business case for UAV and other remote inspection methods will further optimize utility engineering and vegetation management by taking advantage of LiDAR and other sensing technologies in the not-too-distant future.”

To find out more visit the company websites below.

About GeoDigital

GeoDigital, a big spatial data and analytics company, helps industries efficiently manage critical assets and the world around them. GeoDigital’s innovative solutions combine 3D maps – built on remote sensing and imaging technologies such as LiDAR – with patented analytics and location-based work management software. By providing precision insights, GeoDigital enables customers to predict threats and prioritize actions to solve complex geospatial challenges. With data-driven confidence, GeoDigital helps to guide people, autonomous cars, machines and infrastructure more safely, reliably and productively.

Founded in 2005, GeoDigital has operations in the United States, Canada, and Australia and its investors include NGP Energy Technology Partners, North Sky Capital, EnerTech Capital and Emerald Technology Ventures. Visitwww.geodigital.com/UAV-inspections to find out more about this solution.
About Flōt Systems

Based in Lafayette, Colo., FLōT (pronounced FLOAT) Systems is a UAV-based technology company delivering next-generation aerial inspection systems to electric utilities and other critical industries. FLōT Systems leverages long range UAS that carry precision sensors that are useful in solving many electric utility challenges.  FLōT Systems provides turnkey UAS services, FAA expertise for beyond line of sight operations, sensor and integration experience, and UAS software development for the utility industry.

www.flotsystems.com

About Environmental Consultants Inc. (ECI)

ECI provides quality solutions for all aspects of vegetation management, including program assessment, development, crew productivity measurement, environmental assessment, contract vegetation management field specialists, training, expert testimony, and research. We are committed to providing the highest quality state-of-the-art consulting services.

ECI is consistently at the forefront in the development of reliability-focused, risk-based, cost effective utility vegetation management programs. Clients implementing our program initiatives and recommendations have realized dramatic improvements in reliability, significant cost savings, reduced risk, enhance regulatory compliance and overall improvements in operational effectiveness.

Since its founding in 1972, ECI has been recognized as the proven industry leader in the strategic and tactical development of progressive UVM solutions and programs. ECI has successfully provided a wide variety of related consulting services for hundreds of utilities throughout the United States and Canada.

www.eci-consulting.com

GeoDigital to partner with PPL Electric Utilities to better manage vegetation for increase reliability

Pennsylvania utility selects the GeoDigital preconfigured transmission industry solution for vegetation management to further increase network reliability, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction.

GeoDigital, a big spatial data and analytics company, announced today its transmission industry vegetation solution has been selected by PPL Electric Utilities.

The Pennsylvania-based utility, which provides electricity to 1.4 million customers and manages approximately 5,000 miles of transmission network, will implement the end-to-end pre-configuredvegetation management solution. The solution combines GeoDigital’s LiDAR-based 3D mapping, analytics, and location-based work management software to meet overall vegetation management objectives including reliability, efficiency and safety.

“GeoDigital’s solution will provide us with a complete, timely and precise picture of the vegetation surrounding our critical transmission assets, allowing us to improve reliability by precisely managing the vegetation with a high risk of causing an outage, better coordinating line maintenance efforts for the convenience of our customers, and reducing our overall vegetation management program costs” said Adam Morse, Vegetation Manager at PPL Electric Utilities

“Trees are the number one cause of outages during storms and PPL has been working with GeoDigital for a number of years as part of our ongoing commitment to system reliability. We reduced tree-related outages by 18 percent in 2014 compared to the average of the previous 10 years. Now that GeoDigital has combined all of the capabilities into a single solution, we believe we can further increase the effectiveness and efficiency of our vegetation management program.”

“PPL Electric Utilities has been a valued partner of GeoDigital for many years and an early adopter of vegetation mapping for NERC compliance” said Chris Warrington, GeoDigital’s CEO. “GeoDigital is proud that such an innovative utility has selected our transmission industry solution to help streamline the entire vegetation management process – setting a new standard for North American utilities in their quest to further improve reliability, safety, customer service, efficiency and compliance.” Warrington continues, “Every industry needs people with vision, passion and leadership. PPL Electric Utilities clearly demonstrates these attributes with this decision.”

Recent regulatory changes such as FAC-003-3 reflect the need for utilities to improve the precision and effectiveness of their vegetation programs to further increase reliability. Former NERC Senior InvestigatorRobert Novembri stated, “Having evaluated the GeoDigital solution and determining that it has the capability to support FAC-003-3 compliance, it is great to see its adoption and implementation by leading utilities like PPL. Combining an annual reflight program on NERC critical lines with vegetation analytics, work management, and planning software provides a solution that supports utilities with attaining full compliance with FAC-003-3. It is critical that the industry leverage technology to protect the bulk power system in North America from vegetation related outages. GeoDigital’s transmission solution represents a significant step in addressing this critical need.”

GeoDigital’s Transmission industry solution for vegetation management is the industry’s first preconfigured solution and is designed to improve system reliability with precision vegetation management, reduce cost of vegetation management programs and support compliance with FAC-003-3. The solution spans the geospatial lifecycle including GeoDigital Digitize – precision survey and mapping using LiDAR and high definition imagery updated on an annual basis, GeoDigital Analyze – patented analytics to predict and prioritize vegetation which could create the risk of an outage, GeoDigital Explore – the ability to explore these insights in 3D, and GeoDigital Work – to turn insight into action with location-based work management software. By providing precision insights, GeoDigital can help utilities prioritize and predict vegetative threats to improve reliability, reduce vegetation management costs, and simplify compliance.

 About GeoDigital

GeoDigital, a big spatial data and analytics company, helps industries efficiently manage critical assets and the world around them. GeoDigital’s innovative solutions combine 3D maps – built on remote sensing and imaging technologies such as LiDAR – with patented analytics and location-based work management software. By providing precision insights, GeoDigital enables customers to predict threats and prioritize actions to solve complex geospatial challenges. With data-driven confidence, GeoDigital helps to guide people, autonomous cars, machines and infrastructure more safely, reliably and productively.

Founded in 2005, GeoDigital has operations in the United States, Canada, and Australia and its investors include NGP Energy Technology Partners, North Sky Capital, EnerTech Capital and Emerald Technology Ventures. Visitwww.GeoDigital.com to find out more.

About PPL Electric Utilities

PPL Electric Utilities, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), provides electric delivery services to about 1.4 million customers in Pennsylvania and consistently ranks among the best companies for customer service in the United States. More information is available at www.pplelectric.com.

About Robert Novembri

Robert Novembri is the Founder and President of Novembri Consulting, LLC and a former Senior Investigator for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. Robert has 45 years of utility experience and over 26 years of experience in the utility arboriculture field. Robert formerly served as Partner and CEO at CN Utility Consulting, LLC and as the Director of Vegetation Management Operations at Pacific Gas and Electric Company. More information is available at www.novembriconsulting.com.

GreenTech Media – GeoDigital: Mapping the Utility Landscape With Big Data

GeoDigital featured in GreenTech media article by Jeff St John ‘GeoDigital: Mapping the utility landscape with big data.’

Read the article here:

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/geodigital-mapping-the-utility-landscape-with-big-data

Former NERC senior investigator endorses GeoDigital’s PCM program with WorkStudio software for FAC-003-3 compliance

Robert Novembri, former NERC Senior Investigator and utility vegetation management expert, has concluded that GeoDigital’s Precision Corridor Management (PCM) solution, a program that delivers highly accurate LiDAR and imagery data through easy-to-use software, supports compliance with the requirements set forth in NERC’s transmission vegetation management standard, FAC-003-3. Mr. Novembri performed an indepth review in which he evaluated the effectiveness of GeoDigital’s solution and concluded that this offering presents utilities with a complete solution for FAC-003-3 compliance.

Mr. Novembri stated, “GeoDigital’s offering uniquely combines program planning, objective analysis of potentially encroaching vegetation, mobile applications for inspections and internal audits, and the ability to rapidly produce the supporting documentation that NERC auditors need. The PCM Program is well-aligned with the needs of transmission utilities to comply with the requirements of FAC-003-3.”

FAC-003-3 introduces several key changes in how transmission vegetation management is regulated. First, it requires utilities to validate annually that no vegetation encroaches into the Minimum Vegetation Clearance Distance (MVCD) around transmission lines at maximum rated conditions. Because maximum rated conditions can rarely be observed in the field, prior to the GeoDigital solution, utilities had to create massive safety buffers adding additional expense.

GeoDigital’s PCM solution applies PLS-CADD models and proprietary algorithms to LiDAR data to precisely identify all potential vegetation encroachments at maximum rated conditions and allows clients to visualize the results in 3-D. This geospatial intelligence can be brought into the field to inspect the identified threats, and create appropriate work orders for vegetation clearance.

FAC-003-3 also presents a unique paradigm with respect to annual compliance. Whereas earlier regulations simply required that utilities have a documented Transmission Vegetation Management Program (TVMP), the new standard requires that utilities complete 100% of their planned inspection and maintenance work each year. GeoDigital’s WorkStudio suite provides program planning and reporting for all NERC applicable lines by collecting and analyzing field results versus planned.

Mr. Novembri goes on to state “Based on my review of GeoDigital’s PCM solution, when fully implemented, I believe it provides the capability to support utilities in objectively attaining compliance with FAC-003-3. The WorkStudio enterprise software platform is very robust and its WorkPlanner module supports requirements R1, R2, R3, R5, R6, and R7. Additionally, the data
that is collected in the field through VegWorks supports the applicable components of R1, R2, R4, R5, R6, and R7.”

Chuck Anderson, GeoDigital’s Senior Vice-President for the North American Utility Market, said, “Robert Novembri’s knowledge and experience have earned the respect and trust of the utility vegetation management industry. His expertise in how utilities can best comply with FAC-003-3 is unrivaled. GeoDigital is the only company in the industry providing a fully compliant solution for FAC-003-3 compliance. This endorsement demonstrates the strength of GeoDigital’s PCM
approach and our commitment to fully meeting the needs of the utility industry.”

About Robert Novembri
Robert Novembri is the Founder and President of Novembri Consulting, LLC and a former Senior Investigator for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. Mr. Novembri has 44 years of utility experience and over 26 years of experience in the utility arboriculture field. Mr. Novembri formerly served as Partner and CEO at CN Utility Consulting, LLC and as the Director of Vegetation Management Operations at Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

About GeoDigital
GeoDigital International provides utilities and other distributed asset industries with innovative geospatial information management solutions. With one of the largest fleets of airborne/mobile LiDAR and digital imaging sensor systems in North America, we collect and process data under the most challenging project schedules and conditions. Our enterprise software products are then tailored to meet the specific business workflow needs of our customers, including the ability to support mobile workforces in real time. GeoDigital continuously improves our services to deliver timely, mission critical geospatial information systems that increase efficiency and reduce risk. Please visit us at www.geodigital.com.

XCEL Energy to implement GeoDigital for vegetation & pole management

GeoDigital today announced that Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) has chosen to implement its WorkStudio work management system for Vegetation Management and Pole Maintenance. Over 700 contractor personnel and company employees in eight states will use the system for day-to-day management of vegetation and wood pole maintenance.

In selecting WorkStudio, Xcel Energy sought a geospatial solution to help meet the following goals:

  • Replace their legacy Vegetation Management System with a system that emphasized budgeting, analytics, and geospatial modeling,
  • Improve the processes for transmission and distribution wood pole inspection, treatment, replacement, reinforcement and quality control,
  • Automate field force activities to improve dispatched and collected work with third-party Vegetation and Pole Inspection crews, as well as,
  • Automate the surrounding pre-planning, inspection, work completion and quality control activities,
  • Drive efficient work management and more effective risk management.

GeoDigital will supply Xcel Energy with its WorkStudio platform including WorkPlanner for budgeting and program cycle management, VegWorks for mobile vegetation assessments and audits, VegWorker for contractor production reporting, and InfoCenter for enterprise visibility into activity status and budget performance.

Jim Downie, Xcel Energy’s Director of Vegetation Management & Ancillary Programs, said, “GeoDigital has been a critical business partner of Xcel Energy for more than eight years. In that time we’ve jointly developed a variety of VM solutions to address imminent threat, danger tree/hazard tree identification, routine maintenance planning and wildfire protection mitigation, to name a few. This software implementation will bring all of this functionality together into one work management solution that will also enable us to manage a variety of other facility maintenance activities. Teamed up with front line representatives from our contractors we conducted a rigorous and detailed technical evaluation of the responses to our RFP. GeoDigital clearly demonstrated they could meet not only our current work management, analytical and field mobile needs, but would enable us to take that next major step in the evolution of our maintenance programs to improve reliability, better ensure compliance, reduce cost, improve worker safety and provide value to our customers.”

Scott Rogers, GeoDigital’s Senior Vice-President of Enterprise Solutions, said, “We look forward to working closely with the team at Xcel Energy. Our WorkStudio Best Practices for Vegetation
Management will help get users into production quickly, while the platform’s configurability and integration capabilities will allow Xcel Energy to support the full range of users and workflows needed on an enterprise software platform that can be readily adapted as Xcel Energy’s needs evolve.”

Chuck Anderson, GeoDigital’s Senior Vice-President for the North American Utility Market, said, “We have worked with Xcel Energy for many years on several cutting edge initiatives, such as laser mapping for NERC vegetation and engineering compliance, fire fuels modeling and tree health analysis due to the mountain pine beetle epidemic. Xcel Energy’s focus has always been to leverage technology, where appropriate, to improve service reliability of their network and reduce total system costs. We appreciate the trust Xcel Energy has once again placed in GeoDigital with this important initiative.

About Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) is a major U.S. electricity and natural gas company with regulated operations in eight Western and Midwestern states. Xcel Energy provides a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services to 3.4 million electricity customers and 1.9 million natural gas customers through its regulated operating companies. Company headquarters are located in Minneapolis. More information is available at www.xcelenergy.com.

About GeoDigital
GeoDigital International provides utilities and other distributed asset industries with innovative geospatial information management solutions. With one of the largest fleets of airborne/mobile LiDAR and digital imaging sensor systems in North America, we collect and process data under the most challenging project schedules and conditions. Our enterprise software products are then tailored to meet the specific business workflow needs of our customers, including the ability to support mobile workforces in real time. GeoDigital continuously improves our services to deliver timely, mission critical geospatial information systems that increase efficiency and reduce risk. Please visit us at www.geodigital.com.

Strategic Investors at GeoDigital

GeoDigital International Inc. (“GDI”), the leading provider of next‐generation 4D Geospatial imaging and business intelligence solutions, announced today that it has raised an undisclosed amount of new equity financing from leading international investors. The round was led by EnerTech Capital, a prominent North American venture capital investor focused on the energy and power industries, and Emerald Technology Ventures, one of the world’s largest clean technology investors. They were joined in the round by GDI’s current investors, including NGP Energy Technology Partners and North Sky Capital. GDI will use the capital to fund the company’s product extensions and continued expansion in the United States, Canada and international markets.

“This financing will enable GDI to extend the reach of our cloud-based business intelligence solutions to meet a wide range of client needs. GDI’s solutions increase the reliability of the information on which our clients make mission-critical decisions and help them realize significant cost savings,” stated Abe Morris, co-CEO of GeoDigital. “We are proud that all of our major existing investors as well as leading international investors Emerald and EnerTech participated in this financing. These investors all have a superb track record of growing businesses across North America and internationally.”

“To make critical business decisions and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, utility companies worldwide are turning to GeoDigital for geospatial imaging and mapping solutions to monitor and inspect their geographically dispersed assets with engineering precision. Our solutions enable our clients to achieve significant productivity improvements by managing subsequent field work, including through the use of webenabled mobile devices,” said GeoDigital Founder and Co-CEO, Alastair Jenkins. “In addition, our solutions are creating path-breaking innovations in mapping to support autonomous (self-driving) vehicles.”

Scott Ungerer, Managing Director of EnerTech Capital, who will join the GDI Board of Directors, stated, “Our investment in GeoDigital was driven by the growing focus of utilities and other infrastructure owners on increasing operational efficiency and regulatory compliance as well as with the growing acceptance of geospatial mapping solutions to meet these challenges. GeoDigital is a market leader in providing these services and software solutions, and we expect GDI to help drive significant global growth. Our investment in GeoDigital also demonstrates our continued focus on investments in high-quality companies across Canada.”

Gina Domanig, Managing Partner for Emerald Technology Ventures, who will also join the GDI Board of Directors, stated, “We identified GeoDigital as possessing a unique technology that is capable of addressing multiple industry sectors. In the rapidly growing and evolving geospatial information market, offering Software and Information as a Service Solution positions GDI to serve the needs of leading utility and engineering companies.”

About GeoDigital International, Inc.
GeoDigital International, Inc. integrates the world’s most advanced imaging and data acquisition technologies to perform airborne and ground mapping services with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) to deliver industry-leading business intelligence solutions for asset management and engineering. By providing access to geospatial information using proprietary software and web mapping technology in partnership with Google Earth and Google Maps Engine, GeoDigital offers utilities and engineering firms unrivaled access to their data
anywhere, anytime to enable work planning, execution, and reporting. GeoDigital and its predecessor companies have a 20-year history in airborne mapping for the utility industry, providing leading-edge solutions for mapping, inspection, line rating and engineering analysis to customers across around the world.
For more information, please visit: www.geodigital.com
Contact: Jim Smyth, jsmyth@geodigital.com, 289-674-0011

About EnerTech Capital
EnerTech Capital invests in companies that offer products or services that dramatically improve the profitability of producing or consuming energy. Founded in 1996, the firm has managed approximately $500 million and has delivered over 30 exits. EnerTech Capital is currently investing out of its fourth fund and has offices in Philadelphia, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary.
For more information, please visit: www.enertechcapital.com
Contact: Wally Hunter, whunter@enertechcapital.com, 416-383-8563

About Emerald Technology Ventures
Emerald Technology Ventures is a globally recognized investor in the areas of energy, water and materials. Founded in 2000, Emerald has been a venture capital pioneer in these industrial sectors and invested in more than fifty companies to date. From offices in Zurich, Switzerland and Toronto, Canada, Emerald has managed three venture capital funds and two venture capital portfolio mandates totaling over USD 500 million. Fund investors include leading financial institutions, family offices and multinational corporations.
For more information, please visit: www.emerald-ventures.com
Contact: Gina Domanig, gina.domanig@emerald-ventures.com, +41 44 269 61 00

About NGP Energy Technology Partners
NGP Energy Technology Partners (“NGP ETP”) is a private equity firm that invests in companies that provide products and services to the oil and gas, power, environmental, energy efficiency and alternative energy sectors. Founded in 2005, NGP ETP manages approximately $500 million in committed capital and is led by professionals that have extensive experience investing across the energy industry. NGP ETP partners with experienced management teams executing on compelling strategic plans and works with them to drive significant value creation. NGP ETP is headquartered in Washington, DC and has an office in New Orleans, LA. NGP ETP is affiliated with NGP Energy Capital Management (“NGP ECM”). Founded in 1988, NGP ECM is a premier investment franchise in the natural resources industry, which together with its affiliates has managed approximately $13 billion in cumulative committed capital since inception. NGP ECM’s investment
platform includes Natural Gas Partners, NGP Global Agribusiness Partners, NGP Capital Resources Company (NASDAQ: NGPC), and NGP Energy Technology Partners.
For more information, please visit: www.ngpetp.com
Contact: Bruce Schulman, bschulman@ngpetp.com, 202-536-3928

About North Sky Capital
North Sky Capital is an independent registered investment advisor that was established in 2000 to provide tailored private investment solutions for its investors. To date, North Sky’s tight-knit team has built 14 innovative funds spanning the full spectrum of private equity and energy infrastructure. North Sky Capital manages over $850 million in committed capital and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.
For more information, please visit: www.northskycapital.com
Contact: Rachael Welk, rwelk@northskycapital.com, 612-435-7150

GeoDigital and Google to Present Important Vegetation Management Webinar

Power transmission utility owners and operators face significant challenges when it comes to managing their utility corridors. GeoDigital and Google have been collaborating for the past six months to integrate their 3D mapping technologies in order to better serve the clearance and risk management needs of transmission corridors throughout North America.

PCM – Precision Corridor Management provides simple, immediate access to 3D geospatial data anytime, anywhere.

It enables actionable intelligence through a simple interface consistent with the ease of use of Google Earth. It supports both vegetation management and engineering clearance and “as-built” studies from a common data set. To learn more about PCM and the ongoing collaboration please attend our webinar on November 13, 2013 at 8:30 AM PST entitled, “How GeoDigital Keeps Utility Corridors Safe With Google.”

You can register for this important event by visiting our website.

“The utility industry is under increasing pressure to do more with less,” commented GeoDigital’s President and CEO Alastair N. Jenkins. He continued, “The good news is that new technologies such as 3D LiDAR are making it possible for utilities to make highly informed decisions in a matter of days, from the office, after the data collection. Along with cost and time benefits, it lowers their overall risk. Add to this the power and familiarity of Google’s maps and we believe we have the most cost effective, accessible, enterprise scale solution for utility corridor management on the market.”

About GeoDigital International
GeoDigital International provides utilities and other distributed asset industries with industry leading, geospatial information management solutions. With one of the largest fleets of airborne/mobile LiDAR and digital imaging sensor systems in North America we collect and process data under the most challenging project schedules and conditions. Our custom designed, enterprise software products are then tailored to meet the specific business workflow needs of our customers, including the ability to support mobile workforces in real time. As these needs change GeoDigital continuously improves our services with the goal of delivering timely, mission critical geospatial information systems that increase efficiency and reduce risk. To better support our customers we have offices strategically located throughout Canada and the United States.

We also encourage you to visit our website, for the latest information.
Please contact us to discuss your particular needs.
Thank you.

GeoDigital International Inc. Ranks 12 in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM Program

GeoDigital International Inc. is named one of Canada’s fastest growing technology companies in the 15th annual Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM awards. The Fast 50 program recognizes the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Canada, based on the percentage of revenue growth over five years. GeoDigital International’s increase in revenues of 1077% percent from 2007 to 2011 resulted in a number 12 ranking.

“Canadian Fast 50 companies innovate, demonstrate entrepreneurship, create jobs, and invest in R&D,” said Richard Lee, National Leader, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Group, Deloitte.

“GeoDigital International is an example of a company that shows passion, determination and drive that are so important for growth in the Canadian technology sector.”

GeoDigital International’s CEO Alastair Jenkins commented, “The credit for this achievement goes to our team for their dedication and focus on meeting our customer’s needs”. He went on to say, “The Company’s 1077% percent revenue growth over the past 5 years has been achieved by addressing the needs of the energy and infrastructure industries for timely, actionable airborne geospatial information.

Our technology and software as a service offering has become the benchmark for electrical utilities in North America and the standard for service and quality that others aspire to achieve.”

Now in its 15th year, the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM program recognizes leaders in the Canadian technology industry and tracks the successful growth of Canadian-grown global leaders. The program augments the broader Deloitte North American Technology Fast 500™ initiative, with winners automatically eligible for this elite ranking.

To qualify for the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM ranking, companies must have been in business for at least five years, have revenues of at least $5 million, be headquartered in Canada, own proprietary technology, and conduct research and development activities in Canada. A panel of industry experts evaluate and judge companies based on four key criteria: competitive advantage; size, growth, and market attractiveness; management effectiveness and organization; and financial performance.

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM – The Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM program is Canada’s pre-eminent technology awards program. Celebrating business growth, innovation and entrepreneurship, the program features four distinct categories including the Technology Fast 50TM Ranking, Companiesto-Watch Awards (early-stage Canadian tech companies in business less than five years, with the potential to be a future Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM candidate,) Leadership Awards (companies that demonstrate technological leadership in four industry subcategories: hardware/semiconductor, software, telecommunications and emerging technologies) and the Deloitte Technology Green 15TM Awards
(Canada’s leading Greentech companies that promote a more efficient use and re-use of the earth’s resources in industrial production and consumption.) Program sponsors include Deloitte, Gowlings,
Wellington Financial, TMX Group, HUB International HKMB, National Angel Capital Organization, CVCA, MaRS and IGLOO Software. For further information, visit www.fast50.ca.

About GeoDigital International
GeoDigital International provides utilities and other distributed asset industries with industry leading, geospatial information management solutions. With one of the largest fleets of airborne/mobile LiDAR and digital imaging sensor systems in North America we collect and process data under the most challenging project schedules and conditions. Our custom designed, enterprise software products are then tailored to meet the specific business workflow needs of our customers, including the ability to support mobile workforces in real time. As these needs change GeoDigital continuously improves our services with the goal of delivering timely, mission critical geospatial information systems that increase efficiency and reduce risk. To better support our customers we have offices strategically located throughout Canada and the United States. GeoDigital currently employs over 250 people.

GeoDigital Acquires Powel, Inc.

Leading LiDAR and data acquisition firm purchases U.S. assets of Powel AS to fortify market leading position in utility vegetation management

Norway’s Powel AS today sold the assets of its U.S. subsidiary Powel, Inc., to digital mapping, imaging and data acquisition services firm GeoDigital International Inc. The deal strengthens GeoDigital’s position as a leading provider of distributed infrastructure management solutions and expands its leading position in the fast growing utility vegetation management and Transmission Line Re-rating marketplace.

GeoDigital, with offices across the U.S. and Canada, has acquired the mobile work management product line of Powel, Inc., including the WorkStudio® application suite for managing utility field design, vegetation maintenance, outage recovery and mapping. All current Powel, Inc., employees, software assets, customers and facilities will form a new software and analytics division GeoDigital Solutions, Inc. The division will be responsible for software development and the integration of complementary technologies into turnkey enterprise solutions for utilities and other asset intensive industries including rail, oil and gas, transportation, and telecommunications.

“WorkStudio, with its market leading stakeout field design and vegetation management capabilities, represents the unifying system technology that our customers have been asking for,” said GeoDigital president and CEO Alastair N. Jenkins, in explaining the rationale for the acquisition. “This acquisition brings us an unrivalled capability and portfolio to cost-effectively transform data collected from our leading edge services into actionable, money saving solutions for our customers. WorkStudio has been designed from the ground up for distributed linear asset environments and utility design and vegetation management functions, but we also see immense opportunity in other industries with heavy asset management and right-of-way maintenance needs.”

GeoDigital integrates the world’s most advanced imaging and data acquisition technologies to perform airborne and ground mapping services with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) for applications that include vegetation management and line rating & clearance analysis. Powel’s applications, such as its leading StakeOut® field design and VegWorks® vegetation maintenance tools, are able to quickly format spatial data collected by the GeoDigital systems into highly
detailed asset inventories for field maintenance planning, execution and regulatory compliance reporting.

The combined organization will employ about 250 people across Canada and the U.S. GeoDigital Solutions will maintain all current facilities, including the St. Paul, Minn., headquarters of Powel. All existing sales and support structures will remain and GeoDigital Solutions will support all existing Powel, Inc., products, customers and long term support commitments.

“This combination is an optimal fit from technical and strategic standpoints,” said Powel, Inc., CEO, Scott Rogers, who will join the executive staff of GeoDigital International as senior vice president and head of the GeoDigital Solutions software and analytics division. “The combination provides customers an unmatched maintenance value by giving them greater situational awareness of their assets to increase reliability while minimizing risk. Current and
future customers will be excited by the possibilities.”

About Powel, Inc.
Powel, Inc., (www.powelinc.com) headquartered in St. Paul, MN, delivers software solutions that realize our mission of “Helping Utilities Work Smarter.” Powel WorkStudio is a Mobile Work Management platform with office-based analysis that helps utilities work smarter through the entire asset lifecycle, from design to construction to service, including right-of-way clearance, maintenance and storm assessment. WorkStudio incorporates Powel’s industry leading
StakeOut field design application.

About GeoDigital International Inc.
GeoDigital International Inc. and its predecessor companies have a 20-year history in airborne mapping for the utility industry, providing leading-edge solutions for mapping, vegetation inspection and line rating and clearance analysis services to customers across around the world. With offices located throughout Canada and the United States, GeoDigital has mapped more than 480,000 km (nearly 300,000 miles) and more than 1,800,000 structures worldwide
making GeoDigital the leader for corridor mapping in North America. For more information please visit www.geodigital.com