GIS as a basis for design

In construction, location is the guiding principle, clear maps are therefore indispensable. They connect people and enable efficient collaboration. As a market leader in GIS, Esri believes it is important that organizations can make a difference, through the insight that maps and geographic analysis provide.

ArcGIS is Esri's geographic information system (GIS). Since its inception in 1969, GIS has been continuously developed, including by the nearly 200 employees in the Netherlands. Business developer Frank de Zoeten says, "Our customers in the field of GWW are for example Rijkswaterstaat, or the province, but also water boards, rail companies, port companies, contractors, engineers, and utility companies." For example, ArcGIS is currently being used by the Groene Boog in the construction of the A16/A13 in Rotterdam, but also in the widening of the afsluitdijk by BAM and a project such as the dyke reinforcement of the Stadsdijken in Zwolle, by Dijkzone Alliantie Zwolle.

De Zoeten explains that ArcGIS is used not only for such large projects, but also for road maintenance, for example. "Contractors and subcontractors then often use our mobile ArcGIS solutions. To manage part of the road, they can then see the current situation, plan when maintenance is needed, set out work and easily update the new situation in the system." 

Collecting and visualizing

ArcGIS collects and visualizes a lot of different data. De Zoeten: "There is an awful lot of information available in data sources, such as the Basisregistratie Ondergrond (BRO) or Grootschalige Topografie (BGT). For example, in road construction, every pole is recorded." Of course, there are also the cables, pipes, water storage, soil types, trees, roads and more." ArcGIS users can also combine this information with other data sets and create a "digital twin" of the real environment. Portals can be linked so that information is shareable with other clients.

Esri aims to offer GIS as a basis for building plans. "Until now, users built such a solution as a custom solution, but now this has become a product. We have been working with Autodesk to integrate with their design software, this has led to ArcGIS GeoBIM. This allows us to even better integrate design models and GIS into a design environment." Esri will go to market with ArcGIS GeoBIM in the coming months. "The interest from contractors is already very high because the software simplifies communication and collaboration with others and makes it more efficient."

De Zoeten explains that Esri's ambition is for organizations to make themselves smarter with geo-information and ArcGIS. "We ensure that through ArcGIS, among other things, there is access to a lot of open data. Even proprietary information or data from another vendor can be added." To align even better with the needs of their customers, Esri regularly organizes innovation sprints. "An issue from the market, for which there is no ready-made solution, is then discussed by Stakeholders over a week. Recently this was about the Flood Protection Program. Learning points here were that information can be shared better and faster. Water boards also still work a lot in 2D, this is where gains can be made." A week like this can lead to understanding how ArcGIS can be deployed as a standard solution within existing processes.

Curious about the possibilities for your organization? Then take a look at esri.co.uk/aec.