With the increasing demand for geographically related information and services, Black & Veatch, a global engineering, consulting and construction company, is expanding its geographic information systems (GIS) offering within its global water business.
The geospatial industry has been recognized as having one of the greatest potentials for impact on the economy, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. More and more, GIS is having an impact on how the world does business.
To lead Black & Veatch’s proactive approach in building on the technology and its capability to meet the growing demand, the company has promoted Paul Ginther to head of the GIS Department within its water business.
In his new role, Ginther will work to expand the new GIS Department, which uses computer hardware, software and geographic data to capture, manage, analyze and display many forms of geographically referenced information for water-related planning and strategy.
“Paul brings an abundance of experience on GIS projects for engineering, pipeline, utilities, municipalities and government agencies,” said Keith Pronske, chief of strategic services, and responsible for several technical services-related departments, including GIS. “We’re very privileged to have him as part of our staff, and we feel he’ll do a terrific job as we expand our GIS Department.”
Ginther joined Black & Veatch in May 2006 as the leader for the GIS Implementation Team, which previously operated within the Infrastructure Planning Department.
“We created a new GIS Department, outside of infrastructure planning, to provide direct value for clients and professionals. Paul’s vast GIS knowledge and qualities as a leader will help us to strengthen our GIS offerings, ultimately assisting the client to obtain world-class projects,” Pronske said.
Initially, the GIS Department will focus on expanding the range of geospatial services to better support internal and external clients. The department also will focus on promoting a better understanding of the uses for GIS-related solutions and strengthen the working relations within the regional and global offices of Black & Veatch’s water business.
“GIS is all around us. People use it every day and many don’t realize it,” Ginther said. “Eighty to 90 percent of a utility’s data is somehow tied to a geographic location. This aspect allows users to query and analyze information that may have no other relationship. GIS is becoming a key language of business information.”
Source: Black & Veatch
