It’s GIS day! GIS day is a worldwide event that celebrates the technology of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
What is GIS Day?
In summary, GIS is the technology that best understands ‘where’. In other words, GIS can capture, display, and analyze location data to help make powerful decisions.
How does KU utilize GIS?
KU continues to work towards full implementation of GIS within our operations and fieldwork. One of the goals in our newly implemented Strategic Intent is to establish a fully digital workplace running on highly secure & reliable technology infrastructure. GIS is a large part of accomplishing that goal. First, it is the model that generates our Outage Management System (OMS) and soon, our Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. Second, GIS will be utilized for digitizing all our inspection reports and exploiting those sheets right in our digital mapping system. Therefore, all our mapped overhead powerlines, underground cables, water mains, and services will include all of the inspection and new maintenance changes directly on each mapped feature. This will be virtually available to all KU employees in and out of the field. All of this information can be incorporated in KU’s risk assessment to make certain we are efficiently serving our customers.
How does GIS benefit KU Customers?
With the continued upgrades in our GIS, customers will see quicker and more efficient response times on power outages and water main breaks. Have you looked at or heard about our Outage Management System (OMS)? GIS is the behind-the-scenes program that configures OMS to show how our lines are directed to your homes, update for new construction, and add in our new customers. Between OMS and GIS, KU employees are able to trace where the source of outages or water breaks happen and quickly understand how many customers could be affected.
