Abstract :
The electricity industry is regionally based, operates from area offices and depots and covers large geographical areas. These areas contain both the industry´s assets and the customers which they serve. In striving to improve efficiency, cut costs and improve customer service, the industry has on one hand, reduced its workforce and on the other, invested heavily in corporate IT systems. In 1992, Procis Software developed Mobile-GIS. The business issues addressed by Mobile-GIS are as follows: a cost effective alternative to giving paper maps to field staff; changes to the network are noted and passed back to update the corporate GIS; operational incidents as well as other data and activities can be recorded; all data flows both to and from mobiles and the GIS are managed; vehicle mounting of computers to meet health and safety requirement. Mobile-GIS enables users to collect and access data in the field in any format, i.e. geographic, graphic or text. For example, during routine or emergency excavation work, MGIS users have access to existing asset records on the mobile pen computer; they can check the information and, if necessary, capture any additional information to ensure the master record is accurate and current. Mobile-GIS is supported by MGIMS, Mobile Geographical Information Management System. MGIMS provides the link between Mobile-GIS and the corporate GIS, in addition to providing the central collection and broadcast facility for all connected Mobile-GIS units
