Web Based solution for Geographical data

 

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is a regulated public utility that provides service to three million people in San Diego and southern Orange Counties in California. SDG&E conducts research on the design and installation of new facilities, as well as the evaluation of existing facilities. This information is then provided to the public.
 

The Challenge
Planners, right-of-way agents and surveyors routinely request various types of information, including property descriptions, plot plans, deeds, assessors' data, easement drawings and record maps from the real estate record center. With over a million property records, the real estate record center required four people to research and maintain this data. It would normally take 2 to 3 days to manually process the hard copies from SanGIS (San Diego Geographic Information Source) using microfilm, microfiche and filing cabinets.

The process was time-intensive, filing errors were creating problems, and more storage space was needed to house all the information. With SDG&E's parent company, Sempra, pushing for Java standards, SDG&E chose AccuSoft, not only because it offers one of the few java-based imaging applications, but because it also has the most flexible API ensuring easy programmability.
 

The Solution
Utilizing NetVue, a feature of ImageGear Enterprise, SDG&E implemented InfoWeb. This intranet-based software system links online, Web-based maps with over one million documents. InfoWeb is a valuable information resource for SDG&E, combining geographic data from SanGIS with SDG&E's own geographic and image data. This includes information such as the number and location of more than 2,335,000 electric distribution power poles.

The embeddable design of the NetVue Java applet allowed SDG&E and its consultant, SDDPC (San Diego Data Processing Corporation), to integrate geographic information system technology and document management system technology to a degree never before possible.
 

The Return on Investment
With InfoWeb, users can get the information they need instantaneously via the Web, optimizing the resources previously required. The project has exceeded expectations, generating an average of 2,400 document views per month.