America's Infrastructure Earned A “D” on Both the 2005 and 2009 Report Cards issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). According to the January 2009 report, government and the private sector must invest US$2.2 trillion in infrastructure over the next five years.

According to ASCE, since the assessment in 2005, few changes have been made in the majority of the infrastructure categories, including aviation, public works, water, roads and transit. Energy was the only category that showed improvement by increasing from a D to a D+. The United States made progress in grid reinforcement since 2005 with substantial investment in generation, transmission and distribution expected during the next two decades. However, demand continues to increase and projected electric utility investment needs could be as much as $1.5 trillion by 2030.

INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE

GITA is extremely concerned about the current status of the infrastructure in North America. The association is dedicated to developing and promoting effective ways to address this increasingly serious problem by leveraging both geospatial information and technology.

GITA's geospatial focus is an all-encompassing one. GITA views geospatial information and technology as an enabler of increased understanding of critical infrastructure, its interdependencies and its relationship to building and maintaining economically, socially and environmentally livable and sustainable communities nationwide. In this context, GITA believes that geospatial information and technology are becoming an information infrastructure. As such, they are part of the growing cyber infrastructure that supports and is intertwined with all other elements of critical infrastructure.

The growing information infrastructures are known as spatial data infrastructures (SDIs). Users and decision makers can use these information systems to assemble and use geographic/geospatial data. An SDI can be seen as the “dial tone” of the geospatial web. An SDI includes the necessary technology, policies, standards, delivery mechanisms, and financial and human resources to acquire, process, store, distribute and use geospatial data.

DATA ANALYSIS

Often, SDIs have been viewed primarily as a way for governments to better collect, manage, share and use their location-based information. Now, as more and more people and organizations recognize that much of our information has a geospatial component, we are experiencing new opportunities for the use of geospatial information and technology.

Geospatial or place-based information provides a common link for almost all other data. It offers a method of organizing information to connect and understand relationships among people, things and activities. The “where” component is vital in not only government, defense and intelligence but also in energy-related infrastructure. An estimated 90% of capital spending is in private investment in the energy sector.

SDIs enable users to better understand the interdependencies of the new energy marketplace, environmental issues, green infrastructure opportunities and the operational requirements for energy generation, transmission and distribution.

OTHER BENEFITS OF SDIS

SDIs can serve as a powerful tool for an organization. They provide new ways of organizing and understanding information about people, things and places. SDIs also offer new perspectives on potential investment and management decisions that can have a long-term effect on businesses, communities and the nation.

Additionally, an important potential of the new cyber-networked IT environment is the opportunity for organizations to develop SDIs within their organization that will be able to interact with larger SDIs. An economic case for stable, self-correcting data infrastructures within organizations has already been well established. Sometimes called master data management, data infrastructures are increasingly recognized as critical enterprise assets.

With increasing interoperability and the implementation of common geospatial architectures, communities of interest as well as communities of place are now able to engage in efforts to share data and collaboratively address issues of importance to them.

The GITA message is simple: Geospatial information on energy infrastructure is an important corporate and organizational asset. By taking full advantage of this information, companies can more effectively address the opportunities and issues of critical energy infrastructure planning and operations.

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John Moeller (jjmoeller@cox.net) is the chair of GITA's Federal Liaison Advisory Group and is a former GITA board member.