{"id":6048,"date":"2015-12-03T09:56:22","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T17:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/?p=6048"},"modified":"2015-12-03T09:56:22","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T17:56:22","slug":"turn-the-lights-back-on-with-gis-and-operations-dashboards","status":"publish","type":"insider","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/turn-the-lights-back-on-with-gis-and-operations-dashboards","title":{"rendered":"Turn the Lights Back on with GIS and Operations Dashboards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Distribution utilities can never guarantee uninterrupted power. A heavy storm, a fallen branch, a car accident or even scheduled maintenance can easily down electric lines. While disruptions are inevitable, what sets an agile and leading utility apart from the rest is its ability to quickly restore service and minimize outages, improving overall reliability.<br \/>\nOne of the keys to rapid and effective outage response is efficient internal communication. How does information flow within the organization? Do staff, managers and directors have an up-to-the-minute understanding of how systems are performing, and what is being done to optimize that performance?<br \/>\nAccess to real-time, accurate information about the current state of the utility\u2019s network is critical to making intelligent decisions, especially during outages. Many utilities may already have the geographic information system (GIS) technology in place with a long-term vision of enabling this, but often, that goal remains unrealized.<!--more--><br \/>\nGIS is typically used to map a utility\u2019s assets and create a spatially accurate digital representation of the transmission and distribution network. Significant advancements in GIS, as well as cloud and mobile technologies, now make it possible for utilities to leverage those investments in cloud-based operations dashboards\u2014accessible from anywhere on any device. GIS can be used to \u2018mash up\u2019 information from many systems into a single portal that provides decision-makers across the organization with a holistic view of current system health at a glance.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6049\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6049\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2015\/10\/EsriCanada1_NetworkDashboard.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6049\" src=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2015\/10\/EsriCanada1_NetworkDashboard-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6049\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Through operations dashboards, decision-makers can see critical information such as the location, causes, number and severity of outages; the location, number and classification of customers affected; and estimated times of restoration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis common operating picture enables utilities to quickly answer questions such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is the current operational status of the network?<\/li>\n<li>What incidents or outages are occurring and where, and are there any trends?<\/li>\n<li>What percentage of the system is down?<\/li>\n<li>How many customers are affected at regional and sub-regional levels?<\/li>\n<li>Are there any environmental events present that might impact operations and restoration efforts?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The dashboard provides intelligent decision support by incorporating various datasets for rapid in-depth analyses. Because of the geographic nature of distribution utilities, the dashboard must consist of an interactive map with real-time information from numerous data sources including the utility\u2019s operational systems (i.e. outage management system (OMS), advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), etc.), business systems (i.e. financial and customer information systems) and news and weather feeds from external sources. It must also display charts, gauges and histograms that provide valuable statistical context for outages.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nDelivering the right information to the right person at the right time<\/strong><br \/>\nOften, too little or too much information slows down analysis and decision-making. Operations dashboards must be configurable to display relevant datasets based on an individual\u2019s role in the utility. For example, a dashboard for emergency operations centre staff might include a live map that plots locations of outages, customers and assets; automated vehicle location data to enable real-time tracking of field crews; and live weather feeds that enable dispatchers to monitor severe weather events that could impact restoration efforts and allow them to redirect crews accordingly.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6050\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6050\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2015\/10\/EsriCanada2_OpsDashboard.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6050\" src=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2015\/10\/EsriCanada2_OpsDashboard-1024x640.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6050\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dashboard used by an operations manager displays system events to help prioritize work and effectively allocate resources. During a storm, cluster bubbles on the map may change colour, indicating critical areas where crews should be dispatched on a priority basis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6051\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6051\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2015\/10\/EsriCanada3_FinancialOpsDashboard.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-6051\" src=\"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/files\/2015\/10\/EsriCanada3_FinancialOpsDashboard-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6051\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senior management could use a similar operations dashboard with additional information from the utility\u2019s financial system, showing the costs of specific restoration activities or the value of work underway. This may help them estimate the cost of repairing or replacing damaged infrastructure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOperations dashboards can be used to effectively manage large-scale events as well as day-to-day operations. Information is automatically compiled by the GIS, which can send daily e-mail notifications with dashboard data to the appropriate manager. This provides greater insight into the scope of outages and their downstream impacts to key performance indicators.<br \/>\nFurther, the dashboard can be built into an overall framework that integrates information from the utility\u2019s OMS, AMI, SCADA and other real-time systems; displays the data through the operations dashboard; and sends outage notifications to customers via social media, e-mail and text messaging.<br \/>\nUltimately, GIS enables utilities to be proactive in communicating and managing outages, improving their ability to deliver exceptional customer service.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>Esri Canada provides enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower organizations to make timely, informed decisions by leveraging the power of geography. Utility professionals worldwide use Esri technology to manage assets, offer higher levels of customer service and operate more efficiently. GIS provides the underlying network model for the smart grid and also plays a vital role in facilitating mobile operations, planning and designing networks, and enhancing operational awareness. GIS enables utilities to document where assets are located, determine how they are connected or configured and how they can best meet the needs of customers, stakeholders, employees and society. For more information, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/esri.ca\/en\">esri.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p><em>Originally published with <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/mediaedge.imirus.com\/Mpowered\/book\/vthedis15\/i3\/p32\"><em>Electricity Distributors Association in The Distributor Magazine<\/em><\/a><em> <\/em><\/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],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6048","insider","type-insider","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-focus"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Turn the Lights Back on with GIS and Operations Dashboards<\/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\/turn-the-lights-back-on-with-gis-and-operations-dashboards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Turn the Lights Back on with GIS and Operations Dashboards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Distribution utilities can never guarantee uninterrupted power. 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