Technology Report 2022

Power of Technology Integration

One of the greatest challenges in implementing new technology is successfully integrating it into a single product or process. Several of this year’s case studies provide examples of incorporating multiple technology categories into one product. 

The following case studies from this year’s Report as well as several from past reports utilize a combination of the Locating, Mapping, Positioning and Software technologies:

• KCI Technologies
• Exodigo
• ULC Technologies
• Skipper NDT
• Sawback Technologies (2021)
• Unearth Technologies (2021)   
• Leica Geosystems (2020)
• Condux International (2019)
• Bernsten International (2019)
• SeeScan (2019)

They involve various combinations of locating technologies (electromagnetic, GPR, LIDAR, etc.) and platforms (hand-held, ground vehicle, drone) that can be used to locate facilities, map them via GPS/GNSS, or do both simultaneously. As one respondent to CGA’s June 2022 damage prevention technology survey stated:  

As seen in Figure 2, survey respondents identified locating/marking and mapping/positioning as the technologies with the most potential to reduce damages. As indicated by the current and past case studies listed above, the technologies combining these features are rapidly advancing. Integrating technologies can make processes more efficient, less expensive, more accurate and safer for all parties. The barriers to adoption are not so much technological but lie elsewhere.