Integration of Geospatial Data Will Improve City Water and Sewer Systems

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Avineon, Inc. ( www.avineon.com), a successful provider of IT, geospatial, engineering and program management services, today announced it has completed a geographic information system (GIS) conversion and mapping project with the city of Hagerstown, Md. The project integrated disparate data sources across the city's water, sewer, storm water and street network systems into one interrelated GIS. This allows multiple departments to access current shared data while independently maintaining departmental facilities data. Hagerstown will ultimately be able to improve customer service, providing its more than 37,000 customers with a safe, reliable water supply and protecting public health and the environment through the collection and treatment of waste water.

To complete the project, Avineon first developed a conceptual design of the geodatabase data models for the three utility systems. In addition, Avineon created a data conversion specification to guide efforts to incorporate the dispersed GIS data and build integrated geodatabases across the city's water, sewer, storm water and street network systems. To test the geodatabase design, data was first processed in a predefined pilot area. The pilot dataset provided Hagerstown officials with a unique opportunity to fully examine the attributes and behavior of each object defined in the geodatabase. It also allowed the city to verify the accuracy of data conversion specification before undertaking a full data conversion effort.

"Avineon worked with the city of Hagerstown to help define our short- and long-term GIS goals and identify long-term data maintenance strategies," said Steve Long, supervisor -surveys, design and GIS with the city of Hagerstown. "They possessed not only the consulting expertise for needs analysis and process development, but also in-depth knowledge of ArcGIS and the utilities operated by each of the city departments to help us successfully address project challenges."

The initial pilot project was completed over a four-month period with full data conversion completed in six months. Avineon delivered the water, waste water, storm water and street network data in a new centralized ESRI ArcGIS geodatabase with increased spatial accuracy and complete attribution, supporting a more structured and comprehensive approach to facility mapping, promoting spatial information sharing and ultimately providing a solid foundation for building a citywide GIS.

"Avineon has specialized in GIS data conversion, migration and maintenance since the company's founding and we have customers across all utilities including water, sewer, wastewater, electric, gas and telecom," said Gary Wilkison, senior vice president, commercial systems for Avineon. "With a staff of subject matter experts in the utilities industry and all major GIS and related database applications, we were able to help the city of Hagerstown prioritize and implement steps consistent with the city's GIS objectives."

About Avineon

Avineon, a CMMI Maturity Level 3 and ISO 9001:2000 registered company, is a diversified high technology company that provides information technology (IT), geospatial, engineering and program management services. With headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, and offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana and Virginia, Avineon also maintains subsidiaries in Europe and India. In IT, Avineon specializes in web-based architecture, systems engineering, application development and on-going network and security support. For additional information, please visit www.avineon.com.

    Press Contact:
    Erin Hatfield
    DPR Group
    919-678-9200, ext. 103
    ehatfield@dprgroup.com

    Company Contact:
    Charles Erdrich
    Avineon, Inc.
    703-671-1900
    cerdrich@avineon.com

Web site: http://www.avineon.com/