In the world of GIS technology, there is a new trend coming starting. That is, the days of business entities offering services surrounding GIS, exclusively, are starting to wane. There is a growth of businesses and organizations that are starting to offer GIS products and services that are outside the realm of their traditional core competencies.
One example of this is a company known as Dewberry. Traditionally, they are a professional services firm, with a myriad of consulting based offerings. These include such items as telecommunications, transportation, and even security/risk management and vulnerability.
Just recently, Dewberry has begun to offer GIS related services, which include the following:
- Climate change
- Geospatial data analysis
- Surveying
- Land planning & development
- Environmental services
Given this diversified portfolio, it was announced that Dewberry has just been awarded a GIS-based contract to help conservation professionals react to the environmental impacts of both oil and gas activities and climate change. More specifically, the work under this contract will take place in North Slope, Alaska.
This newly awarded contract is actually a subset of another project called the Chukchi and East Siberian Surveys (ChESS) project. This is a huge effort to positively identify polar bears and other Arctic based wildlife. The efforts here will be massive, as aircraft and satellites outfitted with high-resolution cameras will be primarily utilized.
The information and data collected will help other conservation business entities to closely examine the environmental impacts of oil and gas activities and climate change. Also, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center will be making use of these datasets, as well, in order to track the movements of the ringed and bearded seals in the Chukchi Sea.
This particular study will span a three-month time horizon. The information and data to be gathered will also be very useful in helping geologists to identify untapped oil and gas reserves.
GeoTel is a telecommunications research and GIS mapping firm that researches and provides telecom datasets for more than 6,000 cities in the United States and worldwide. GeoTel’s expertise includes specialists in economic geography, geospatial engineering, web GIS, and telecommunications GIS Data infrastructure.
