{"id":3525,"date":"2014-12-10T08:04:25","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T16:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/?p=3525"},"modified":"2014-12-10T08:04:25","modified_gmt":"2014-12-10T16:04:25","slug":"todays-gis-forecast-partly-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-fire","status":"publish","type":"insider","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/todays-gis-forecast-partly-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-fire","title":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s GIS Forecast: Partly Cloudy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Firewalls protect web-based GIS from the dangers of the cloud<\/em><\/strong>
\nWhen I was interning at a power company, the utility industry had just adopted a revolutionary technology: SCADA<\/a>. Today, SCADA is so common most people don\u2019t even bother to spell out the acronym (supervisory control and data acquisition system). But back then, SCADA was controversial. It eliminated the need for substation operators.
\nUtilities staffed operators who could act immediately in an emergency. They closed breakers, put out fires, and called for help. They checked fluid levels and did maintenance, cleaning, and inspections. They made the rounds, took the readings, spoke to the dispatchers, and made sure everything ran smoothly.
\nThen SCADA came along, and electric companies didn\u2019t need substation operators. With SCADA, they installed remote terminal units in substations. These faceless, nameless boxes communicated the status of breakers, took readings, allowed dispatchers to open and close breakers remotely, and sent signals across telephone lines. Old-timers warned of the number of concerns.
\nWhat about a cyberattack?<\/em> (Although they didn\u2019t call it cyberattack then.)
\nWhat if the telephone lines failed? <\/em>
\nBut nothing ever happened.
\nThe same fears follow any new technology. It happened with GIS<\/a>.
\nGIS was a transformational technology. It\u2019s the foundation for a utility\u2019s business functions and critical mission functions. Today, though, many utilities use GIS only as a departmental engineering system. They use GIS to produce maps and to document the network. There\u2019s a greater vision here, but actual practice has been spotty.
\nNow cloud\u2014or web-based\u2014GIS has come along and changed everything.
\n
\nWeb-based GIS is the New SCADA<\/strong>
\nYesterday\u2019s worry about SCADA is today\u2019s worry about the cloud. Back then, utilities built backup systems, alternate sites, and emergency procedures in case something happened to the SCADA. Most importantly, they didn\u2019t avoid implementing SCADA. The business case\u2014the operational advantage\u2014was too great.
\n\"\"
\nThe business case for cloud GIS is also too great not to implement. Sure, the cloud introduces risks. Here are three very good reasons to worry about cloud GIS: security, availability, and privacy. Hackers may delete or corrupt data. A hurricane could knock out the power. A utility\u2019s asset base may erode. (Utilities don\u2019t have to invest as much in computing assets, so their asset base for rate increases won\u2019t be as high, regardless of savings.) Nevertheless, there are backup systems to mitigate the risks of emergency systems. Utilities will even figure out how to adjust their asset base to account for the virtual investment in cloud infrastructure.
\nThey will do it because the cloud is worth it.
\nThe cloud has revolutionized geospatial technology. Web capabilities are moving GIS from a department-specific computer application to a platform available to the whole enterprise. Past critics who argued GIS was too complex, expensive, difficult to roll out to the masses, and specific only to engineers now have a way to unlock GIS for all employees, who benefit from GIS even if they don\u2019t know it.
\nDoes the call-center representative need to know the tensile strength of each pole? Certainly not. On the other hand, wouldn\u2019t it be helpful if everyone in the call center knew which streetlights were broken or reported dark? Does the accountant need to know the class of a wood pole? Nope. But the idea is that web-based GIS brokers just the right amount of information (and no more) to the right device. To the right people. To help them do their job right.
\nWeb-based GIS enables data collection from multiple sources\u2014many of them external, such as crime data. An employee knocking on doors to urge a delinquent customer to pay his bill could stand to know the current status of crime activity in that neighborhood, for instance. Web-based GIS could reveal minute-by-minute crime activity on a web map. The map could tell the door-knocker where the nearest police cruiser is. On the other hand, the police department that uses web-based GIS could also be alerted when a utility worker has entered a high-crime neighborhood. The possibilities are limitless.
\n
\nKeeping Web-based GIS Secure<\/strong>
\nSo what about security? Utilities can take steps to protect their web-based GIS just as they did with SCADA. They are building backup, standby systems for emergencies when Internet connectivity is lost or wireless coverage goes down. They backup GIS and basemap data regularly.
\nMost importantly, they use a firewall.
\nA firewall puts an extra line of defense between the world and your GIS. The firewall knows which users are supposed to access which data, and it protects the data from corruption, deletion, or use by unauthorized people. This ensures privacy and security. In addition, the firewall adds the benefit of compliance with the North American Energy Regulatory Commission\u2019s (NERC\u2019S) Critical Infrastructure Protection<\/a> (CIP) regulation. CIP requires that critical infrastructure data, like that in the GIS, be protected above and beyond the same data in commercial settings. The firewall satisfies this need.
\nIn addition, not everything has to be stored or managed in the cloud. Most information\u2014including streets, pole locations, streetlights, and so on\u2014can be stored in the cloud. Meanwhile, sensitive customer and infrastructure data can\u2014and probably should\u2014remain on premises and editable only by select employees.
\nSo that\u2019s the forecast for GIS. Tomorrow is looking partly cloudy with a strong chance of fire.<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Learn more<\/a> about Portal for ArcGIS, Esri\u2019s firewall solution for web GIS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[275862,275952],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3525","insider","type-insider","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-focus","category-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nToday\u2019s GIS Forecast: Partly Cloudy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/todays-gis-forecast-partly-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Today\u2019s GIS Forecast: Partly Cloudy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Firewalls protect web-based GIS from the dangers of the cloud When I was interning at a power company, the utility industry had just adopted a revolutionary technology: SCADA. 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