Building the Geospatial Foundation for a Modern Electric Utility

Context

As Senior GIS Engineer and Public-Sector & Utility Advisor with Adam Smith International, I advise Ethiopian utility stakeholders on enterprise modernization and the information foundations required for reliable operations.

The Challenge

For a large utility, GIS cannot create operational value as a standalone mapping system. Reliable infrastructure intelligence depends on authoritative data, network connectivity, governance, operating workflows, system integration, institutional capacity, and clear ownership across departments.

My Role

I advise public-sector and utility leaders on enterprise GIS modernization, infrastructure data, governance, readiness, implementation sequencing, procurement inputs, and long-term sustainability. The work sits between executive priorities, operational requirements, technical architecture, vendor delivery, and institutional capacity.

What I Did

• enterprise GIS strategy and advisory
• readiness assessments
• data governance and ownership
• data standards
• implementation roadmaps
• risk matrices
• TOR and procurement inputs
• technical requirements
• acceptance criteria
• enterprise integration planning
• executive decision papers
• leadership and technical workshops
• institutional capacity assessment
• sustainability planning

Systems Represented

• geospatial systems
• asset information
• customer information
• ERP/SAP
• SCADA
• outage management
• metering
• operational systems

How I Approached It

I translate operational requirements into data standards, governance models, technical specifications, procurement inputs, integration requirements, implementation roadmaps, and executive decisions across GIS, assets, ERP/SAP, SCADA, customers, metering, and outage management.

Key Business & Technical Impact

• Enterprise Systems Integration: Authored the integration blueprint connecting Enterprise GIS with core business systems, including ERP/SAP, SCADA networks, smart metering, and automated outage management workflows.
• Asset & Data Governance: Established authoritative spatial data standards, establishing a single source of truth for physical transmission lines, substations, and customer connections.
• Operational Modernization: Transitioned utility field teams from manual, paper-based tracking to real-time spatial intelligence for rapid outage response and infrastructure planning.