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INTERNATIONAL EDITION 10/10
Success with GIS
FOCUS UTILITIES

Review EUF2010
Contents
Review: European Utility Forum 2010
in Berlin 2
Editorial 3
The Multi-Utility “City of Luxembourg” 4
e.wa riss: Award For Top Local Utility 6
Berliner Wasserbetriebe introduce
ArcFM UT for Water and for Sewage 8
evo Energie-Netz GmbH: Energy
Supplier Using GIS Throughout
the Enterprise 10
Smart Grids: a GIS opportunity 12
UETCL: First African Power Utility
to use the ArcFM UT system 14
Eesti Gaas upgrades to new
ArcFM UT V 9.3.1 16
What’s New in ArcFM UT 18
ArcFM UT Product News 18
Preview Version 10:
ArcFM UT Server 19
Imprint 20
AED-SICAD@Events 20
After the already traditional
product show at the beginning,
which presented news and highlights
from the development department,
the forum proceeded
to one of its central elements,
the presentation of customer
projects. A multitude of different
projects out of different regions
was shown.
Saudi Electric Company (Central
Riyadh Office) with the introduction
of ArcFM UT within the largest
supply area of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, Brabant Water from
the Netherlands, who may well
be counted as one of the outriders
for the use of the mobile solutions,
Zagreb City Gas with their
system for the capital of Croatia,
VSE, the Slovak RWE subsidiar
Review: European Utility Forum 2010
in Berlin
After last years‘ events in the European cities of Paris, Amsterdam,
Vienna and Brussels this year’s European Utility Forum
took place in Berlin from May 19 – 20, 2010. Approx. 70
participants from a total of 17 different countries joined close
to famous „Kurfürstendamm“ to exchange news and experiences
or simply to dive into the ArcFM UT community.
Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia
with its integrated system for water
and sewage, and last but not
least, VSE from the Slovak Republic,
a RWE subsidiary, who is
already well past the introduction
phase.
Special mentioning goes to
Uganda Electricity Transmission
(UETCL), who are the first
African ArcFM UT users and are
using it to document its transmission
network in Uganda.
They all delivered insights into
their either ongoing or successfully
terminated projects and explained
their motivations for their
decision for ArcFM UT. This allowed
giving a nice panorama on
the use of this Commercial-Of-

y, presenting its ArcFM UT project to the audience.
The-Shelf (COTS) utility application,
not only in different countries,
but also in companies differing considerably
in size or sector. AED-SI-
CAD could reach this success only
together with its international business
partner network, and honors
this among others with the AED-
SICAD Partner Award.
Within the City of Luxembourg, currently
the introduction of ArcFM UT
is taking place. For this comprehensive
project, Siemens IT Solutions
and Services (SIS) is responsible.
Dr. Thomas Englert, Managing Director
from AED-SICAD, was happy
to hand over to Hermann Brünemann,
project manager from SIS,
this year’s partner award.
Also the new concept to offer two
technical tracks in parallel, one
rather for starter or managers, another
for ArcFM UT experts, met the
full approval of the conference participants.
Therefore AED-SICAD will
surely repeat this setup in its EUF
2011 in an European city still to be
selected.
Contact AED-SICAD
Mr. Florian Brandi-Dohrn
Email: florian.brandi-dohrn@aed-sicad.de
Editorial
Dear Reader,
With great pleasure we present a
new AED-SICAD forum International
to you. What started as a small group
of international utilities that wanted to
learn from each other and to share
experiences, has grown with at least
one to two customers per month to a
substantial group of motivated and
interested users of ArcFM UT. The
number of visitors to our annual European
User Forum keeps growing.
We are proud of that development
and thankful to you.
It is a great pleasure to present to you
this new issue of our forum international
highlighting some of the recent
achievements in our product suite
ArcFM UT and in the utility market.
During the last months we have been
working on making ArcFM UT easier
to use, more efficient and more in line
with the actual trends in the basic
software of our technology partners
ESRI and Telvent Miner & Miner. We
focused on “flattening” our internal
data model to some extent without neglecting
the structural requirements
necessary for qualified documentation,
administration and maintenance
of assets in the data base. We have
completely replaced the Java code in
our software by .NET technology for a
more consistent look and feel and in
order to reduce the complexity of the
software stack.
During this process we have taken
benefit from the cooperation and input
of several utility companies and
from expert advice from ESRI Inc.,
which we greatly appreciate. These
changes also have the important benefit
that now our .NET based components
fully support the ArcGIS Server
technology. Accordingly we are currently
focusing on building a new
product “ArcFM UT Server”, which is
an extension to ArcGIS Server and on
brand new clients based on Silverlight
and JavaScript technology. The focus
is here to allow our customers data
editing via Internet in the near future.
A prerelease version of the software
has been shown in our recent user
Dr. Thomas Englert
meeting and will also be shown in the
upcoming conferences and events.
Apart from continuously improving
the underlying software technology
we concentrate on integrating the GIS
based processes in the enterprise
business process landscape of a utility
company. Our goal is to deliver the
necessary technology to help utilities
manage their processes more efficiently.
With our ArcFM UT Integrator
software modules and the UT Server
technology we are able to deliver the
necessary technical components to
achieve that goal.
We have recently won several international
prospects, both smaller and
larger utility companies, which underlines
the capability of scalability of our
software solution.
We would like to thank all of you for
your interest in our work and your
valuable feedback.
Yours sincerely,
Editorial
Dr. Thomas Englert
CEO
Email: thomas.englert@aed-sicad.de
3

4
Luxembourg
The Multi-Utility “City of Luxembourg”
Ville de Luxembourg (VdL) is one of the few cities where the supply networks are completely managed
by the city itself. This means for the area of GIS that VdL can make extensive use of synergies
in the area of geodata management by collaborating closely with other city departments – more than
a “normal” utility. In practice, the department for network documentation is accessing the same geodatabase
as other GIS applications dedicated to other administrative purposes within VdL. This puts
high demands on the quality and the up-to-dateness of the basemap and of course also on the IT
infrastructure. And in terms of GIS, a system must be used which does not only focus on network asset
documentation but also is capable to provide modern GIS applications for topography and for the
various tasks in city management.
Many Different GIS Requirements
VdL has decided in fall 2009 to replace their existing GIS landscape, which was based completely on SICAD/open, with ESRIbased
solutions. This meant that not only the base GIS had to be replaced, but also the various, sometimes even customdeveloped,
technical applications. VdL has decided to use the following ESRI-based products within these departments:
» Service de l’Electricité (Electricity Dept.) : ArcFM UT Electricity
» Service du Gaz (Gas Dept.) : ArcFM UT Gas
» Service des Eaux (Water Dept) : ArcFM UT Water
» Service de la Circulation (Traffic Mgmt Dept.): ArcFM UT Electricity plus specific extension for traffic
» Service de la Canalisation (Sewage Dept.) : ArcFM UT Sewage (novaKANDIS)
» Service des Parcs (Park Mgmt Dept.) : geoVAL- application
» Service de la Topographie (Topography/Basemap Dept.) : GeoOffice Topography plus specific extension for LUX
address model

Since AED-SICAD with its subsidiary AED-Synergis is also
supplier of local authority applications, VdL could procure
all technical GIS applications from one supplier, the ArcFM
UT product suite for the documentation and exploitation of
the various networks and specific applications for the other
departments making use of GIS.
Basic Architecture
There is a German proverb saying „Too many cooks spoil
the broth”. Therefore it was decided that each department
is responsible for one pot of data. So each department
is managing its own ArcGIS Server instance. From
a server point of view, the ArcGIS Server licenses, Oracle
RDBMS and server hardware are managed centrally. For
each department one ArcGIS Server instance is assigned,
thus greatly saving on server licenses. The Service de la
Topographie has of course an exposed position, since it
is supplying the basemap data in the scales 1:500 and
1:5000, and additionally all geocoded address data for the
whole city area, to all other departments.
From a client point of view, each department has decided
on the number of ArcGIS licenses required plus the required
extensions for the technical applications. Of course
they can view any of the data available on the server side,
but of course edit only the data under their departmental
responsibility. And it is important to recognize that each
department can change of course the symbology and the
representation of the data they read from the other departments.
For example, the Service de l’Electricité may wish
to have a more subdued appearance of the basemap data
compared to the Service de la Topographie. All raster data
are also stored in the basemap ArcGIS Server instance
and may be used by all departments.
Plotting Across Several Geodatabases
Besides the web information the central plotting components
are a key functionality of the Luxembourg GIS landscape.
For this, the AED-SICAD software module “PLOT”
is used, allowing to create easily and in a reproducible
manner highly exact and elaborate plot templates and layouts
to be previewed in ArcMap. These plots can then be
sent to a flexible and scalable plot output (plotter, printer,
file) and even the plotting queue can be managed. One of
the important advantages of the plot templates is that of
course as data sources several ArcGIS Server instances
can be used and that the templates can be used in the
desktop as well as in the web environment.
Application for Traffic Management
For the documentation of the traffic objects, the customerspecific
application “traffic” is used. This application has
two main parts:
» ArcFM UT Electricity with the electricity data model
for management of signal cables and related net
points
» Traffic application for capturing and maintenance of
traffic signals, signs and lane markers
The signal cables and the net points are captured with
the standard data model of ArcFM UT for Electricity. The
standard functionality covers the functional requirements
in this area. The former SICAD/UT Traffic was a special
application made for Luxembourg some years ago. Today
GeoOffice/Traffic from AED-SYNERGIS is a standard application
in the AED-SICAD portfolio. Based on this standard
only specific signs for Luxembourg had to be adopted
and the integration into the ArcFM UT environment had to
be done.
Other Departments
In the meantime, further departments within the City of
Luxembourg are requesting to be included in the GIS
project. The Service d’Urbanisme (town planning department)
has just acquired GeoOffice for urban land-use planning,
but can of course also access the central databases.
Web Information
When dealing with several different database instances,
a central and unified web access to these is of course of
utmost importance. This is implemented from an architectural
point of view with ArcGIS Server and the AED-SICAD
GIS Portal, basis for several different technical web applications.
ArcFM UT Web gives information on the utility
network data and also added utility functionality.
WebGEN allows even the web-based capturing of new
geocoded addresses according to the Luxembourg address
data model. The LUX address data model of course
also serves as central entry point to navigate to a certain
address. And the WebMapPlotService, making use of the
aforementioned plot templates allows complex plotting
output products, typically as PDF, allowing for local, clientbased
printing. Further GIS Portal extensions can of course
be used, e.g. for the data export and sales (e-commerce)
using the WebOrderService (WOS).
Contact Ville de Luxembourg
Mr. Germain Breger
Email : gbreger@vdl.lu
Contact AED-SICAD
Mr. Udo Knips
Email: udo.knips@aed-sicad.de
Luxembourg
5

6
Germany
e.wa riss: Award For Top Local Utility
Headquarter e.wa riss in Biberach an der Riss
Every year, the German Energy Consumer Portal selects the best local utilities. E.wa riss, a small German
utility supplying the city of Biberach an der Riss (32 000 inhabitants) and surrounding villages
with energy and water, reached a top-3 placement among 250 competing utilities in this prestigious
award. Its GIS team was happy to contribute their part to the efficient business operations.

Entrepreneurial Spirit
The highly dynamic and entrepreneurial utility e.wa riss
operates behind the historic facades of Biberach. They
supply electricity, gas, water and district heating to their
citizens. The entrepreneurial spirit is also shown in the
investment into an own high-speed communication network
for Biberach citizens based on fiber glass, marketed
under the brand “ewacom”.
Consumers in Biberach can now enjoy internet bandwidths
of 25 – 150 Mbit/sec, thus giving them access to a highly
modern and advanced communication infrastructure.
Intensive Use of Web Technologies
In the background, all the different networks are diligently
maintained by five GIS experts using the ArcFM UT product
suite. Each network, except district heating and fiber
glass, has an extension of roughly 400-500 km. New data
are captured by GPS and are imported quite conveniently
as enriched ASCII files using the “Import Surveying Data”
function. Data are exploited extensively in many ways:
» The ArcFM UT Reporting module allows to issue the
reports required by the German Regulatory Authority
(Bundesnetzagentur, BNA). One example for such an
report is the summing up of line lengths by material
type and by district.
» ArcFM UT Web is used for easy information dissemination
throughout the whole organization. Using
several extensions to ArcFM UT Web, e.wa riss can
manage many tasks through the web interface.
» The WebGEN extension is used to collect new sales
leads. Data of potential gas customers are registered
e.wa riss is laying fiberglass lines.
in the central database as point objects and then forwarded
to the sales department for further follow-up.
» The WebDE (DataExport) extension allows to extract
and download DXF data directly from the web
interface. This functionality is used mostly by private
engineering offices from the region for planning and
construction purposes.
» The WebNAV extension is a nice little functionality
similar to popular Google functionality, proposing to
the user different search results when entering an address
to search for.
» Last but not least, the ArcFM UT Replication Server
allows the replication of all data for mobile use. ArcFM
UT Mobile is mostly used for outage management, to
give field engineers full and intelligent digital access
to their network.
In summary, the dedicated and well-placed use of GIS
technologies supports key business processes and
helped to make e.wa riss the efficient and awarded utility
that it is today.
Contact e.wa riss:
Mr. Francesco Aurea
Email: faurea@ewa-riss.de
Contact AED-SICAD
Mr. Florian Brandi-Dohrn
Email: florian.brandi-dohrn@aed-sicad.de
Germany
7

8
Germany
Berliner Wasserbetriebe introduce ArcFM UT for Water and for Sewage
By Beate Strack (Berliner Wasserbetriebe) and Frank Göllnitz (Berlinwasser Services)
The water distribution company of Berlin, Berliner Wasserbetriebe, is the largest company of the Berlinwasser
group. They supply drinking water to 3.7 Million citizens in Berlin and Brandenburg. Besides the supply
of drinking water, the company is also responsible since more than 150 years for the environmentally
correct treatment of the waste water. Thus the company belongs to one of the most important bearers of
know-how in the international water and sewage industry. The drinking water of Berlin is distributed via a
7.889 km line network. The Berlin sewage network is composed of conduits for drain water, rain runoff, and
combined waste water with a total length of 9.500 km. The waste water ducts always lead to the topographically
lowest point of the runoff area and channel the sewage to one of the 150 sewage pumping stations.
From there, it is being pumped in a pressurized network to the sewage treatment plants.
The Berliner Wasserbetriebe currently replace their Geographic
Information System, which they had been using
for many years. It was based on the product family GFIS
(geoGPG, geoManager, geoInterface and geoBase) of the
IBM corporation. The motive for the replacement was the notice
of termination of the GFIS products by the producer.
An essential target for the necessary change and the new
technological orientation which comes with it was the selection
of a future-proof, technological innovative and highperformance
GIS base software. Further important decision
criteria were:
» the use of standard applications for the pressurized sewage,
gravity flow sewage and drinking water network,
» a strong user community for the exchange of experiences
» the possibility to do own software developments through
the IT service provider of the Berlinwasser group, the
Berlinwasser Services.
Within the frame of an EU tendering process and after an intensive
and successful pilot phase, the company AED-SICAD
was contracted as prime contractor together with its bidding
group. The contract is constituted by the following parts:
» introduction of the technical applications ArcFM UT for
the water and sewage network based on the software
family ArcGIS of the company ESRI Inc.,
» data migration of the existing extensive GFIS network
data, the German official basemap and the surveying
data and
» provision of the data for the information retrieval system
MapInfo Professional, which is still in use by roughly
1 400 users at the Berliner Wasserbetriebe.
The introduction of ArcFM UT was done in phases according
to network type.
Pressurized Sewage Network
Based on an extensive functional specification, where all
functions and data structures were described, within the first
project phase the implementation of the pressurized sewage
network application was started. ArcFM UT for Sewage,
or also called novaKANDIS by AED-SICAD business
partner Cadmap, was used for this. After several iterations
the functions and data were ready so that the technical ap-
plication novaKANDIS for the pressurized network could enter
the phase of full productive use. AED-SICAD conducted this
project in close cooperation with its business partners, especially
Cadmap, and with the support of the internal IT service
provider, the Berlinwasser Services GmbH. The user department
“geo data service” supported the project with extensive
tests on data and functions.
Water Network
As the next challenge the substantial functional and data
requirements for the implementation of ArcFM UT Water
for the documentation of the water network needed to be
implemented. Especially the migration of the existing very
voluminous data was playing an important role. The focus
was on a graphically and topologically correct data transfer
into ArcFM UT without any loss. As a result the data quality
actually could be improved by the migration, for example
by creation of the new objects “cut-off valve”. In total, exactly
1 610 108 objects were transferred from GFIS to the new
ESRI based geodatabase. Further important aspects were:
» integration of the GIS with the information system for
the administration of the technical data of the service
points and
» integration of the data on network damages
The Berliner Wasserbetriebe - as one of the early adopters
of the new ArcFM UT technology – have supported
AED-SICAD and Cadmap through their knowhow and own extensive
testing in the further development of the technical application
ArcFM UT Water and novaKANDIS. Berliner Wasserbetriebe
e.g. defined over 1000 test cases and went through
all of these. This also shows the complex requirements of Berliner
Wasserbetriebe which had to be fulfilled by AED-SICAD
with ArcFM UT Water.
Sewage Network (Gravity Flow)
Currently (mid 2010), the last project phase is being concluded:
The introduction of novaKANDIS SEWAGE. An important
goal is the combination of the inventory and TV inspection
data within novaKANDIS. In total, exactly 2 353 881 sewage
objects and 202 495 TV inspections need to be migrated. Also,
it has to be assured that the close integration of the sewage
data within the different business processes of the Berliner
Wasserbetriebe does not get lost. One example for such an

integration within the business processes is the use of the
data within the information system of the Berliner Wasserbetriebe
for the support of the operations control and for maintenance
(so-called UBI). The adaptations to the interfaces to
the various third party systems are carried out by the Berlinwasser
Services.
Conclusion
Altogether, the technical applications ArcFM UT and
novaKANDIS prove to be a stable and solid technology in the
daily operational use. However, the performance could still be
improved a bit. The interface to MapInfo is another important
component by providing on a daily basis up-to-date GIS data
within the Berliner Wasserbetriebe. Here, the company CISS
TDI with its product CITRA is an important and performing
project partner of Berliner Wasserbetriebe.
The project proved to be a considerable challenge in terms of
technology, communication and deadlines. Albeit a strategic
partnership between ESRI and IBM we had to cope with technical
difficulties in the interaction between ArcSDE and the
IBM database DB2. Here, the Berliner Wasserbetriebe would
have liked to see a more timely support by ESRI. Despite of
the problems with DB2, the Berliner Wasserbetriebe are still
absolutely convinced that the ESRI base GIS with its multitude
of extensions is the correct choice to master all GIS
requirements, especially in terms of integration. The challenges
in terms of communication arise from the fact that the
partners are based in geographically different locations, and
the information and knowhow exchange had to be secured. All
project participants could collect valuable experiences which
help to master future challenges in terms of technology and
functionality. This was shown already in the frame of the upgrade
from ArcGIS V9.1 to V9.3 which was performed jointly
by Berliner Wasserbetriebe and AED-SICAD/Cadmap within
the envisioned time frame.
Concluding we can state that all project participants have met
the challenge of the project goals and its realization with great
dedication and willingness to acquire new skills. During the
project we have established a good partnership according to
the motto
Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.
(Henry Ford I.)
Contact Berliner Wasserbetriebe
Mrs. Beate Strack
Email: beate.strack@bwb.de
Contact AED-SICAD
Mr. Joachim Restle
Email: joachim.restle@aed-sicad.de
Germany
9

10
Germany
evo Energie-Netz GmbH: Energy Supplier Using GIS
Throughout the Enterprise
evo is situated in the middle of Germany, supplying the city of Oberhausen (214 000 citizens) with electricity,
gas and district heating. It is owned by RWE and the local city works (STOAG). A quick adopter of
the new ArcFM UT Smart Desktop Line, they are using GIS within many of their key business processes.
They also use GIS for many analysis questions to be able to serve the needs of a modern utility.

The core of their system application landscape is the
ArcFM UT desktop application. A team of five GIS experts
keeps the (graphical) documentation of the three
network types up to date. But evo goes beyond standard
GIS tasks and has the clear vision of providing all
important operational data covering the complete asset
life cycle in digital format. This will allow to work with all
these data independently of the geographical location,
giving them a much higher degree of freedom in the design
of the business workflows.
Therefore, alpha-numerical data are maintained by a
much larger team. Currently, 27 employees update these
data in electricity, 13 in gas, and 10 in district heating.
They all use the new ArcFM UT Asset Manager from the
Smart Desktop suite, which allows them to use the extensive
functionality for updating the alpha-numerical data,
but at the same time view the geographical representation
of the asset data.
Extensive Use of ArcFM UT Asset Manager
The reason for so many people working in the update
of the alpha-numerical data is that they first capture the
extensive technical data of the nodes, to extend them
in the following continually with the data of operational
incidents. This allows them to create the aforementioned
asset life cycle: First the data about going into operation
are captured, but then of course any other life cycle incidents
like outages, measurements, requests for fixing an
asset etc.. Often also documents or files, like e.g. letters,
orders, series of measurements, are attached to these
incidents.
Especially the functionality of mass data is a widely used
button within the UT Asset Manager, allowing the users
to assign an incident to a number of objects at the same
time. The latter functionality is also used to be able to
assign all service points, which are supplied with energy
under regular switching conditions, to a certain supply
area. This and further specific functionality to update alpha-numerical
data was the reason to select the desktop
product UT Asset Manager over a web-based solution.
Mr. Beck, GIS Manager at evo, explains that in the maintenance
of the alpha-numerical data, the geographical
representation of the asset data is crucial for its clear
identification. Therefore, in his opinion, tools which rely
only on the alpha-numerical data are inferior to tools like
the UT Asset Manager. For him another important functionality
is the ability to use network tracing to select certain
objects and subsequently change this set of objects
using the functionality of mass data update.
This way, the UT Asset Manager, placed between the
full high-end GIS and the classical Asset Management
System, which e.g. does not allow network tracing and
subsequent mass-update, is a crucial advancement
in technology. Furthermore, Mr. Beck explains that the
Graphical User Interface of the UT Asset Manager is lean
and easy to use, allowing for intuitive and efficient use.
Reporting
The extensive capturing of the asset life cycle has of
course practical reasons. For example, all German
utilities have to report all outages to the regulatory
authority. The report needs to include who was responsible
for the outage, the size of the outage (minutes of
customer downtime, number of consumers affected, etc),
and the executed shut-off with similar sizing information.
Also, they have to give extensive reports on the structure
of the network and list the assets organized e.g. by types
or geographical units.
Click before you dig
The captured data play already an important role in other
business processes within this utility. evo started already
at an early point with dedicated web applications, which
allowed them to address specific issues, such as construction
work: The accredited, usually external users
have easy and fast access to all information necessary
for this job. What they need is the documentation of existing
lines, planned lines for all networks and additional
field books and construction sketches.
They start by logging in, and then can navigate to the
construction site in question either via the map or via
address. Symbols indicate construction sites, and with
one click all relevant information is downloaded in a zipfile.
Out of security reasons, all network data are not displayed
by default, only the requested network data for a
certain construction site are included in the downloadfile.
Additionally included are legends, terms of use, security
advices etc..
Contact evo:
Mr. Klaus Beck
Email: k.beck@evo-energie-netz.de
Contact AED-SICAD
Mr. Joachim Restle
Email: joachim.restle@aed-sicad.de
Germany Germany
11

12
Germany

Smart Grids: a GIS opportunity
As public concern about renewable energy and climate-conscious behaviour rises, terms like smart
grid are being discussed. Smart grids become necessary when the share of renewable energy increases
and thus the dispatchable part in power supply decreases. Smart grid describes “intelligent” distribution
networks for electricity. In order to enable smart networks, an upgrade of the existing network
infrastructure with communication networks is needed. The smart grid components are aware of each
other and can interact with each other.
Smart Grids – a challenge for utilities
The present power supply was built on centralised
electric network structures with power generation
by large power plants and a one-way transportation
channel to the customers. Contrary to conventional
energy sources, wind or solar energy is nondispatchable.
It doesn’t provide a continuous output.
When energy consumers become power suppliers
by installing solar panels on their roofs, the network
load in the low- and mid-voltage grids is no longer
determined by consumption alone but also by generation.
Hence, balancing power generation and
consumption becomes more complex.
Smart Grids – a GIS opportunity
In recent years, GIS has developed from being a
mere net documentation tool to an integral part of
the IT-infrastructure in utilities, supporting business
processes from net planning to maintenance.
GIS provides a platform for integrating data from
different sources like DMS, ERP or Customer Service
systems. These data can be analyzed spatially
as well as chronologically and can thus facilitate
immediate decision making. In integrating spatial
data from other sources such as weather or traffic
data, further analyses like forecasts of power generation
by wind become possible.
In conventional networks, management of the high-
and mid-voltage grids can guarantee secure power
supply. Hence, DMS are usually restricted to these
voltage levels. When more solar panels or electric
vehicles are connected, management of low-voltage
network becomes essential. Generally, only GIS
contain topological data of all voltage levels.
Fig. 1: High power consumption at the cold storage
houses by the harbour. As a consequence of lower
electricity prices due to increased wind energy - triggered
by a storm front - cold storage houses are being
cooled down. The electricity consumption of a cold
storage house may thus compensate for fluctuations
in wind energy production.
Fig. 2: eTelligence brings together power producers,
consumers, energy service providers, and network
operators on a virtual market place.
With spatial information questions like:
» Where can I plan a service station for electric
vehicles?
» Is it possible to allow another solar panel in a subgrid?
can be answered properly.
GIS can easily manage increasing data volumes and
enable utilities to derive information needed for intelligent
decisions. GIS supports scale-dependent analyses and visualisation
that help in understanding situations at different
levels.
eTelligence – a smart grid research project
eTelligence is a winner of the German Federal Ministry of
Economics and Technology’s E-Energy technology competition.
In Cuxhaven, concepts for tomorrow’s energy supply are
being studied in a field test. A virtual market place has been
installed where consumers, power providers, network operators
and energy service providers can network intelligently.
GIS plays a crucial role in analysing, visualising the real-time
data collected from households, industrial plants and transformer
stations. These data are published on a flex-based
internet application in order to increase awareness on electric
power supply.
GIS – a control centre for smart grids
Containing network models of all voltage levels, GIS may
serve as an ideal smart grid information system. However, to
guarantee for data quality in terms of completeness, consistency,
and topological connectivity, systems and data have
to be prepared. In an integrated IT scenario with other key
applications like DMS and ERP, GIS plays an important role
as a decision support system in the long term transformation
of electric power grids into smart grids.
Contact BTC
Mr. Johannes Brinkmann
Email: johannes.brinkmann@btc-ag.com
Contact AED-SICAD
Mr. Florian Brandi-Dohrn
Email: florian.brandi-dohrn@aed-sicad.de
Germany
13

14
Uganda
UETCL: First African Power Utility to use the ArcFM UT system
UETCL is a state-owned company operating a total of 1,400km High Voltage Transmission Grid network
at two voltage levels 66-132kV and 14 primary substations with a National Control Centre. UETCL was
formed after the unbundling of the former Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) into a generation (UEGCL),
a transmission (UETCL) and a distribution (UEDCL) company.
UETCL staff and GIC officials during a familiarization tour at a German utility
Pfalzwerke in Ludwigshafen
The Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd.
(UETCL) is the first African power utility company to introduce
the Geographical Information systems (GIS) in the
frame of an internal project based on ESRI and ArcFM
UT. The Company’s network infrastructure documentation
was mainly in hard copy paper form. UETCL decided that
it was high time to introduce a state-of-the art GIS-based
asset management system.
The Company first opted to obtain first-hand information
on the use of GIS technology and on the processes of
data conversion before implementing the system. The
process to obtain the above information commenced
with UETCL Company staff visiting a number of German
ArcFM UT users in April 2009.
While visiting the German utility “Pfalzwerke”, its GIS
manager, Mr. Hauffe, explained in detail the use of GIS
within their company. Especially of interest was how
Pfalzwerke interfaced the GIS with the SCADA system
enabling them to have a real-time overview of the grid
failures and the affected customers. This helps them to
timely handle emergencies and reduce the overall network
downtime and improve the business efficiency.
The UETCL study was enthusiastic on the above solution
as it would help them go a long way in improving their
business efficiency At a second German AED-SICAD customer,
they discussed especially the process of capturing
data and how to control the quality of such data. The
experience of out sourcing the initial activities for data
conversion and later training the field staff and availing
them hand held GPS that communicate directly with the
central data processing unit for continuous data update
was appreciated
Capturing of Pole Positions Has Been Done
Upon returning to Uganda, they proceeded in a first step
to capture the position of the transmission poles for the
pilot transmission line using GPS technology – The pilot
line considered was the Lugogo – Mutundwe – Kabulasoke
– Nkonge – Nkenda 132kV line. In a next step, the
captured transmission lines and the stations were entered
within ArcFM UT. The above information is now centrally
located in the GIS system and is ready to support
management decision making related to the Pilot Line.
The pilot line had aged wooden structures vulnerable to
faults during the rainy season due to rotting wood and
during the dry season due to bush fires. The system is
also used to carry out feasibility studies for the 400kV
Karuma Interconnection, 132kV Isimba Interconnection,
400kV Ayago Interconnection, 132kV Opuyo-Moroto,
Mutundwe-Entebbe and Miram-Kabale, 220kV Masaka-
Mutukula-Mwanza and Nkenda-Mpondwe-Beni priority
projects.
The decision to invest in a multi-purpose GIS system
helps the Company to adequately meet its proposed programmes
for system expansion, store new and old network
data inherited from the UEB that dates back to 1948
and enhance data security. The GIS system also helps
utilize the available office space, data accessibility, analysis
and integration to enhance efficiency.
While officiating at a workshop in Kampala in August
2009, the UETCL D/CEO Mr. W.K Kiryahika said that the
company had opted to adjust with the changes in technology
and the GIS will provide value for money with the
proposed grid expansion plans. The project is being executed
through GIC in Uganda and AED-SICAD’s business
partner Oakar Services from Kenya.
Contact Oakar Services
Mr. Eric Nyadimo
Email: enyadimo@osl.co.ke
Contact AED-SICAD
Mr. Florian Brandi-Dohrn
Email: florian.brandi-dohrn@aed-sicad.de

Uganda
15

16
Estonia
Eesti Gaas upgrades to new ArcFM UT V 9.3.1
Situated in the charming city of Tallinn, Eesti Gaas is the distributor of natural gas within Estonia. They
had already back in 2006 opted for ArcFM UT, and have just now completed the important update to
the new Version 9.3.1, allowing users to benefit from the advantages of the improved ArcFM UT data
model.
About Eesti Gaas
In Estonia, a country with a population of 1.4 million and
an area of around 45.000 km 2 , Eesti Gaas AS is buying
and selling natural gas. Daughter-company EG Võrguteenus
is distributing natural gas and maintains gas
network. The consumption of gas was 635 m 3 in 2009,
which was delivered via a 2500 km distribution and transmission
network. At Eesti Gaas Group, 300 employees
serve 44 000 customers.
Practical Use of ArcFM UT
Before the introduction of ArcFM UT, Eesti Gaas was
operating a CAD-based system with inherent difficulties
in e.g. publishing the data in the web which resulted at
the time in awkward nightly conversion processes. Eesti
Gaas deliberatly decided for the Commercial-Off-the-
Shelf (COTS) solution ArcFM UT to exclude software
development risks in terms of overshooting budgetary
and deadline goals.
Today all data are unified in one central Oracle database,
allowing desktop users to maintain and analyze
data and web users to retrieve detailed information on
crucial assets. A central database was especially an important
objective, since GIS users are distributed over
seven different cities in Estonia. Remote power users
connect via Terminal Server to the Oracle 10 database.
Four years after the introduction of ArcFM UT says Heigo
Ojaste, IT Manager at Eesti Gaas: “We have made
the right choice with the ArcFM UT product suite”.

The power users in the GIS center are convinced of the
good and simple functionality dedicated to utility processes.
For example, data about new or changed gas
lines are delivered by external subcontractors in CAD
format and are integrated after the necessary quality
check by “cut & paste” – no need for re-drawing or complicated
operations.
The extensive ArcFM UT network tracing functions are
used e.g. to check network connectivity after introducing
new data to certify that all new customers are correctly
connected. Reporting on the central GIS database
plays also a more and more dominant role in the daily
business processes, with numerous reports on pipeline
length, number of service points, number of valves, etc.
being generated with Crystal Reports.
ArcFM UT Web is widely used
ArcFM UT Web is the second, widely used product within
Eesti Gaas. Roughly half of the staff, like e.g. specialists
in the field, everybody related to the network or the
management, regularly consult the web-based access
to the GIS-based asset information system. High-quality
plotting is here maybe the most widely used functionality.
It is important to note that Eesti Gaas is also sharing
data services with the city of Tallinn: The basemap
is actually served by an ESRI map service by the city
of Tallinn and consumed by Eesti Gaas users. In other
Estonian cities, the basemap data are simply exchanged
via the popular SHP format.
Upgrade to new Version 9.3.1
Heigo Ojaste always takes special care to upgrade
quickly to the latest ArcFM UT version to take advantage
of new ESRI and ArcFM UT functionality and to fully
benefit from the support services. The upgrade to Version
9.3.1 was in this respect a bit of a challenge since it
included the consolidation of the ArcFM UT data model.
With the support and good preparation of the local business
partner Alpha GIS, the upgrade of all systems was
completed after roughly one week. The new data model
allows mostly for significant performance gains in certain
areas and for a simplification in working with the data.
Future Plans
Integration of the GIS with the rest of the IT landscape
is an important focus of Heigo Ojaste. Already now, the
GIS is nicely integrated with the also Oracle-based CRM
system, allowing GIS users to directly query e.g. gas
consumption, max. power rating, or contract information
on each customer within the GIS. Further plans are the
full integration of the network calculation program “Optiplan”,
where the interface has actually already been
completed. An important objective is also to use GIS
to calculate and visualize the pipeline condition in the
map:
Certain parameters, like e.g. pipe geometry, corrosion,
loss of metal etc, are measured during full operation by
pipeline inspection gauges, so-called “smart pigs”. For
smaller pipes, statistical parameters are used. Based on
these parameters, thematic maps on the pipeline condition
are prepared.
Another important focus is the mobile use of GIS. Currently,
simply the maps printed e.g. via the web interface,
are used in the field. The future definitely belongs
to digital devices, where currently important parameters
like necessary screen size and functionality are being
decided upon.
Contact Eesti Gaas
Mr. Heigo Ojaste
Email: heigo.ojaste@gaas.ee
Contact AED-SICAD
Mr. Theo Itzen
Email: theo.itzen@aed-sicad.de
Estonia
17

Product News
ArcFM UT Product News
ArcFM UT V9.3.1
The ArcFM UT V9.3.1 release includes the ArcFM UT Asset
Manager from the smart desktop line, to replace the ArcFM
UT Alpha product. The goal of the smart desktop product
line is to give small, dedicated and powerful desktop tools
to perform specific tasks. The Asset Manager, for example,
is meant to view all graphical and alpha-numerical data,
but to allow editing of alpha-numerical data only. Unlike the
light web client, complex alpha data operations are possible
(see article evo).
The ArcFM UT data model has been improved to streamline
it with the underlying, evolving ESRI technology. These
changes result in easier handling of the data model (e.g.
migration of data) and considerable performance improvements
for certain search operations.
Another important improvement relates to the new functional
group of reporting, offering the end user a multitude
of different report types on their data, which are often required
for the utilities by European Regulatory Authorities.
ArcFM UT V9.3.2
From an architectural point of view, all Java components
have been removed and replaced by .NET code, giving
the alpha masks a brand new look and feel. This change
also prepares ArcFM UT functionality to be used in the new
product “ArcFM UT Server”.
The new concept of simple objects has been introduced
in this version. It had been a wish of many customers to
handle objects not directly participating in an utility network
· GIS
· GPS
· Remote Sensing
· Photogrammetry
· Surveying
· Cartography
· Image Processing
· Business Geographics
ArcFM UT V9.3.2 allows to generate automatically cross-sections of
the conduit systems
(e.g. “meadow”), or even also utility objects in a simpler
but equal manner as the regular utility objects. This relates
foremost to the alpha masks, which should have the
same appearance. This concept was implemented in this
version, where the alpha-numerical data are stored directly
in the feature class. A variant of the Simple Objects is also
available, allowing to group several geographic elements
(e.g. line, area) to one object (e.g. building) making easy
unified handling of these objects.
Another fantastic new functionality is the “Layer Switcher”.
It allows users to present data very quickly according to
multiple attributes. For example, to display all overhead
electricity lines out of service, these were often distributed
over various feature classes, forcing the user to adapt the
symbology / dynamic queries of each feature class to turn
off underground lines and lines not out of service. With
the layer switcher, this can be done now with one click,
and all data are represented according to the new attribute
choice.
And who doesn’t know the issue of “symbology in basemap
has to be changed” and all dependant data views also have
to be adapted. With the new layer switcher, you can build
layer groups which you can combine to data views (stored
displays). If there are changes in one group, they will be
automatically propagated to all data views containing this
group.
Furthermore, there are numerous smaller improvements in
the UT Navigator, UT Reports, UT Data Quality Manager,
UT Plot and UT Generalization (IGEN).
www.geoconnexion.com
GEOconnexion International Magazine
www.geoconnexion.com/subscription
Email: subscription@geoconnexion.com
Telephone: +44 (0)1223 279151
The latest news in one location

Preview Version 10: ArcFM UT Server
Silverlight Client
Web
ArcFM UT Server
ArcGIS Server
RDBMS
JavScript Client
(includes CoDi)
WMPS
URM
other ...
News Flash
The ArcGIS Server allows users to have increasingly strong and performant functionality in a
light, web client. AED-SICAD has transformed in the background over the past years its ArcFM UT
technology to be server ready and deliver cutting-edge server technology to its customers. All ArcFM UT
software modules are now written in .NET allowing to include them with minimal adaptations into the
new product module “ArcFM UT Server”, which will be released with ArcFM UT Product Suite V10.
Fig. 1: Planned ArcFM UT Server architecture, connecting to existing modules like WebMapPlotService (WMPS) and the User Resource
Management (URM). CoDi exposes construction and dimension functionality in the light client.
The ArcFM UT Server will be an object extension to ArcGIS
Server and will expose specific utility functionality needed
in the web environment, such as e.g. information on alphanumerical
asset data, editing of alpha-numerical asset data,
network tracing, or redlining (creation of simple graphics). Of
course, also all standard ArcGIS Server functionality can be
used directly in the clients.
Speaking of clients: AED-SICAD will deliver two light clients
with the first version of ArcFM UT Server. The Silverlight client
is based on Microsoft technology, allowing the fast and
easy creation of Rich Internet Applications. For the end-user
this results in a complete new and modern look and feel in
the user interface, with floating tool bars and nice additional
functionality like “extend map to full screen”. The Java Script
Client includes less proprietary technology, and therefore allows
also hardware device independent operation. The latter
will also include the “CoDi” functionality for fast and simple
creation of construction points and dimensions in the web.
The ArcFM UT Server technology will continuously be
expanded to expose more and more exciting utility functionality
in light clients. We recommend: Stay tuned.
Fig. 2: Preview on Silverlight User Interface (network tracing)
Of course the existing modules of WebMapPlotService (WMPS)
for high-quality plotting using the same templates as in the
desktop environment or the URM (User and Resource Management)
for user accreditation will be coupled and can be used.
19

AED-SICAD@Events
ESRI France User Conference
Intergeo 2010
ESRI European and Middle East User Conference
ESRI International User Conference
Paris, France
Cologne, Germany
Rome, Italy
Published by:
AED-SICAD Aktiengesellschaft
Lilienthalstrasse 7
85579 Neubibger / Munich, Germany
www.aed-sicad.com
Editor:
Florian Brandi-Dohrn
Tel. +49 89 45026 217
Fax +49 89 45026 219
Email: florian.brandi-dohrn@aed-sicad.de
DTP/Design:
Martin Janzen
Email: janzen.martin@arc-greenlab.de
Editorial Contributions:
» Udo Knips
Email: udo.knips@aed-sicad.de
» Gerald Kreuwel
Email: gerald.kreuwel@aed-sicad.de
» Theo Itzen
Email: theo.itzen@aed-sicad.de
All rights reserved. AED-SICAD forum INTERNA-
TIONAL is fully protected by copyright. Nothing in
it may be reprinted or reproduced wholly or in any
part without the written permission of the editor.
©2010 ESRI, ArcFM, ArcGIS, ArcIMS, ArcSDE and
ArcView are registered trademarks of ESRI Inc.
Printed in Germany
San Diego, USA
Sept. 29 – 30, 2010
Oct. 5 – 7, 2010
Oct. 26 – 28, 2010
July 11 -15, 2011