1Spatial Successfully Completes LAM Data Discovery Phase at United Utilities

Cambridge, UK, Thursday 19th April 2012. 1Spatial is pleased to announce the successful completion of the initial ‘data discovery’ phase of the Linear Asset Management (LAM) Programme for water company United Utilities (UU).

The LAM programme is concerned with implementing a new Geographic Information System (GIS) across UU’s business, enabling enterprise-wide access to its linear asset information. As part of the associated data migration activity, UU is taking the opportunity to improve the quality and completeness of its existing data. This will enable UU to make informed investment decisions to ensure the company meets regulatory requirements cost effectively, as well as complying with its responsibilities in relation to the transfer of private sewers bill. As a consequence, UU will be able to contribute more meaningfully to the 2014 Price Review, which will dictate the limits on the prices that UK water companies can charge.

1Spatial, in conjunction with system integrator Wipro, has been working with UU through a series of interactive workshops to analyse and understand its existing asset data sources and to define acceptable standards of quality. These measures will enable UU staff to have increased confidence when working with the data and enhance the reliability of UU’s regulatory compliance and monitoring activities.

Ian Costigan, Head of ICT Business Solutions at United Utilities said:

“Our focus at United Utilities is on providing better service to our customers and one of the ways we’re doing this is to give our employees a better view of what’s happening right across our asset base. Good data is the foundation of this programme and we’re delighted to be using 1Spatial’s expertise to help us build a clear picture for UU.”

Dr Michael Sanderson, Director of Strategy at 1Spatial added:

“We are delighted to be working with UU to deliver insight and recommendations for approaches that will move the company forward. Not only will these tools help UU to meet its overall corporate goals, but they will also enable UU staff to work more efficiently and more confidently, thanks to a more complete and accurate data source.We have demonstrated the strength of the data improvement methodology and we hope that it will be at the forefront of smart approaches to network infrastructure management over the next five years.”

We see data differently. 1Spatial’s rules-based approach to capturing, validating and managing data enables customers to have confidence in not only their operational data, but also that with a location element. Even those with ‘big data’ are able to process and analyse information in a way traditional technologies do not allow.

By using Socium, 1Spatial’s cloud platform, to automatically validate and correct their data, customers benefit from unrivalled time and cost savings using a truly scalable, zero infrastructure environment.

1Spatial’s technology underpins data management and processing solutions across the globe. Customers range from National Mapping Agencies to Utilities, Defence and government departments, all working to improve efficiencies, reduce risk and promote continuous innovation. Visit www.1spatial.com

1Spatial’s data discovery process helps businesses to understand the data they have, the business context that it supports, what extra information is potentially available within that data and then whether it is fit for its intended purpose. From identifying gaps and non-conformances in datasets to exploring existing data to articulate business rules and capture business knowledge, 1Spatial helps businesses exploit what they already have to achieve business advantage and reduce operational costs. In this initial phase of the project for United Utilities, 1Spatial has used their Radius Studio technology platform to collaboratively capture and implement business rules, which United Utilities can use to assess the quality of their existing linear asset data, which includes asset data like reservoirs, water mains, sewers, manholes, water treatment works and aqueducts. During this discovery phase, 1Spatial has also helped United Utilities to define their data quality mission statement and started to build an agreed set of business rules that will ensure existing data, and any new data, conforms to that standard. The same rules-based approach has been used to discover and explore how the combination of multiple data sources, within Radius Studio, could automate actions to produce an improvement in the content and contextual value of United Utilities asset data holdings.