Before joining the Spatial Networks team, I spent the last six and a half years working as a GIS Analyst/Developer for a full service engineering firm on projects spanning the globe. One of the cool things about working in the Technology Solutions group for a multidisciplinary consulting engineering firm is that you get to be involved in a wide variety of projects across many different disciplines. Engineers are involved in everything, from transportation projects to environmental impact assessments, utility network design to water and wastewater system modeling. In my experience, this level of variety in a GIS job is rare.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked as a Tax Map Technician, GIS Specialist, Analyst, and Consultant for various organizations. Most GIS positions involve repetitive tasks, limiting opportunities for creative problem-solving or exploring new approaches in the field. You either maintain geodata for a municipality or build mapping applications for clients, becoming an expert in a narrow discipline. Unfortunately, these roles leave little time or incentive to explore emerging technology or alternative problem-solving methods.
In the Technology Solutions group, our job was to leverage technology resources in ways that best solved client problems. Often, we were pulled into projects after the scope was set and work had already begun. My role involved working with project managers to deliver on commitments and produce high-quality results as efficiently as possible.
Data in the Age of Information
It has become clear to me, especially over the past year, that demand for fresh, actionable data is skyrocketing. In this Age of Information, data serves as an increasingly valuable currency across industries, disciplines, and specialized fields. Nearly every project requires or benefits from some form of structured and reliable data collection for better insights.
Consulting engineers, scientists, conservationists, and archaeologists apply their expertise to solve problems within specific geographic areas. From inspecting bridges, culverts, and utility poles to surveying sea turtle nesting sites, accurate data supports informed decision-making.
Enter Fulcrum for consulting engineers
Fulcrum fills a crucial gap between low-end recreational GPS units like eTrex and high-end data collectors like Trimble. Recreational GPS units are now inexpensive and fairly accurate, but they lack advanced features for proper data collection. You get waypoint name and description fields, plus a selectable symbol if you’re lucky, but that isn’t enough. Most GIS projects require strict data integrity, which these basic GPS units simply cannot support in a meaningful way.
Recreational GPS units run on closed platforms like Garmin or Magellan, limiting flexibility for customization or integration with other tools. Meanwhile, industry-standard high-end GPS units typically operate on Windows Mobile, supporting software like ArcPad or TerraSync.
Smartphones and tablets however, offer reasonably affordable hardware paired with sophisticated open operating systems. Most have decent cameras and GPS sensors and they are connected to the web by default. There are many GPS and mapping apps, but Fulcrum focuses on the core features required for GIS data collection:
- A core focus on offline usability
- A map-centric approach that allows for custom, interactive, offline basemaps
- An intuitive web-based form builder with advanced field logic rules for data integrity
- A quality user experience that can be quickly mastered by field workers for efficiency
- Data exports in a variety of GIS-friendly formats
- A powerful API with webhook notifications for enterprise integration
Field data collection processes
Fulcrum provides tools and services for data collection while promoting a proactive approach to the entire process. Building an app requires carefully designing the data structure before starting fieldwork, ensuring better organization and accuracy. Many overlook this critical step when heading into the field with only a clipboard and camera.
Consulting engineers and scientists must solve problems, often delivering reports that summarize their findings for clients. These reports should rely on well-documented data that others can independently review and verify. Fulcrum equips professionals with the necessary tools, allowing them to focus on their work without IT complications.
Tips and tricks
- Work backwards from the deliverable to determine the structure of the app. If you are delivering a report on culverts that need to be replaced, you’ll want to have fields for condition, material, size, etc. These fields will help you prioritize which culverts should replaced first and at what expense.
- Any data components you want to analyze should be constrained to numeric, single or multiple choice type fields that maintain data integrity. Avoid free form text fields, except for names, descriptions, etc.
- Use sections and labels to make your app more intuitive. Take advantage of visibility and requirement rules for efficiency in the field.
- A picture truly can be worth a thousand words. If you have a crew out in the field taking measurements and collecting data, be sure to snap a photo or two. It may help you avoid costly site revisits and can provide a great snapshot in time.
- Ruggedized equipment is overrated. You will end up with expensive, obsolete hardware that you can’t justify upgrading. Budget for a replacement unit or two and buy some good cases.
- Establish your specifications as soon as possible. Get your positional accuracy, photo quality, and deliverable requirements in writing so you can spec out your equipment.
- Budget enough time upfront for designing and testing your data collection app and field procedures. A little extra time spent preparing and planning will save countless hours of data scrubbing.
- Do a complete trial run-through before collecting any real data. Go over the data collection, QA/QC, analysis, reporting, and deliverable production to determine if you need to make any changes before sending out your field crews.
Impress your clients
Successful consulting engineers are great at finding solutions that can be applied across a wide range of disciplines. I encourage you to give Fulcrum a try on your next data collection project. I’m confident that after your first project, you will find Fulcrum to be an invaluable tool that gets worked into subsequent projects. Before long you will find yourself at a proposal interview showing off your iPad loaded with a custom data collection app that you designed specifically for your client. That guy next to you holding the clipboard doesn’t stand a chance!