GIS essays

GIS essays USING GIS FOR ASSET MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE REPORTING Utility Companies can no longer operate as monopolies with rigidly defined service territories whose top priority is only to satisfy a handful of government regulators. In response to market pressures, utility companies are restructuring. The City of Safford (Arizona) believed, that if given the organizational freedom and the economic incentives of the private sector, it could out perform the private sector by operating more like a business. The result was Gila Resources, Inc., a solely owned subsidiary of the City. The utility assets of the City were transferred to Gila Resources as a part of this separation. This prompted the need for a complete physical inventory of these assets. Gila Resources chose to use GIS to inventory the assets over a flat file database because it quickly integrates information with location, creating a live database with various attributing capabilities. The major costs would be that of the actual physical inventory. Gila Resources would have the advantages of GIS with little additional costs. During the initial needs assessment, a few key features beyond the asset inventory were identified as integral parts of the project. They included infrastructure sustainability, reduced operating costs, asset management, better delivery of service at a lower cost, and financial reporting requirements. Implementation of an enterprise-wide GIS with an asset management component provides Gila Resources with a unique vision of current infrastructure conditions and the required revenues needed for maintenance renewal. Our goal through the use of GIS is to provide proactive infrastructure renewal and community needs. Gila Resources, Inc. provides water, wastewater, electric and gas services to 16,350 customers in its 100 square mile service area. Gila Resources hired the consulting firm of Global Systems Modeling to assist and direct the imple...