Der Kindheitstraum von Philipp Schöttke: Ich werde Parkranger in einem Nationalpark.

Da kam ihm das Geographiestudium gerade recht und als man bei einem begehrten Praktikum GIS Kenntnisse voraussetzte, erwies sich der EDV-Pool der Uni Mainz als Segen. Und es kam einiges anders.

Heute ist Philipp Product Owner und Leiter des GIS Teams bei der Netze BW GmbH und dafür verantwortlich, dass in der Produktentwicklung alles vorangeht. Dabei ist sein Arbeitstag vor allem voll und erfordert viel Priorisierung, damit alle Kollegen wissen, was sie zu tun haben.
Wie sein beruflicher Weg im Detail verlief, warum Landroverfahren auch seine Studienwahl beeinflusste und welche 3 Tipps er für die Geographie-Studierenden von heute hat, erzählt er uns sehr unterhaltsam in der neuen NA 6/99-Folge.

In NA 6/99 - Der Geographen-Podcast stellen normalerweise Dr. Sandra Laskowski und Michael Braun zusammen mit jeweils einem Gast die Vielfältigkeit der Berufsbilder und Berufsmöglichkeiten für Geographen vor, brechen jeweils eine Lanze für das Studienfach und rufen zu mehr Vernetzung untereinander auf.

Von NA 6/99 - Der Geographen-Podcast gibt's alle 2 Wochen eine neue Folge!

Philipp Schöttke zu Gast bei NA 6/99 - Der Geographen-Podcast

“The value has been proven.”

That’s what Ryan Ciesielski, Group Head of Geospatial at National Grid, told us about the return on investment for utilities deploying GIS tech in asset management. 

This week on The GISt, we explore: 1) GIS applications for regulation, documentation, and reporting 2) real world use cases of GIS for asset management 3) the realities of partnering with the right entities to make GIS organic and scalable…and so much more.

Listen in for an expert’s POV on how geospatial tech is changing the game for smarter asset management, faster outage response, and more efficient field operations.

The GISt: The real ROI of GIS for asset management

What do two GIS experts say when you ask them about the importance of data management for utilities? 

“You can’t manage what you can’t see.”

“If the data is wrong, bad things happen.”

“Without data, you have no control.” 

This week on The GISt, we’re diving deep into GIS as a tool to address latency, remove siloes, and help utilities do less on-prem…so they can do more overall.

The root of all this innovation? GIS technology. It’s what pulls disparate data together so power teams can make better decisions, bridge more gaps, and find—as this week’s experts put it—their “aha moment.”

In the first of three top-notch episodes of The GISt with our partners at Esri, we’re joined by Director of Electric Utility Solutions Bill Meehan & Director of Electric Industry Solutions Pat Hohl.

This episode is brought to you by Esri. 

Esri is the global market leader in GIS software, location intelligence, and mapping. With Esri software you can add the power of location to modernize how you work. Esri helps to digitally transform utilities by enabling users to create, discover, share, and use maps anywhere, anytime, on any device. The Esri ArcGIS system is a comprehensive GIS allowing organizations to analyze and share their data across the organization. Operators and managers access ArcGIS for improved operational awareness and decision making. Field and office staff use ArcGIS to manage, update, and analyze information about customers, network assets, and work orders. To find out how to digitally transform your utility visit [www.esri.com/electric] to learn more.

Don’t miss the next two episodes of The GISt ft. Esri—covering GIS for discovery and for collaboration…two key components of scaling reliable, resilient power systems.

See you next time.

Utilities have a data problem. Is GIS the solution?

When you see relationships and patterns, you don’t just take a peek at opportunities—you get a preview of risks…and a chance to get out in front of changes that need to be made.

That’s the power of GIS as a tool for discovery.

Why? Because looking at your reality in a spatial context opens up a new world of discoverability—and that can quite literally take utilities from “I hope so” to “now I know what to do.” Creating that tapestry of high-value information can change everything for power pros.

In the second of three top-notch episodes of The GISt with our partners at Esri, we’re joined again by Director of Electric Utility Solutions Bill Meehan & Director of Electric Industry Solutions Pat Hohl. And these two? They’re breaking down some of the coolest ways utilities are leveraging GIS and mapping to do better business—including how one Esri client quadrupled their asset renewal program effectiveness in just one year. 

This episode is brought to you by Esri.

Esri is the global market leader in GIS software, location intelligence, and mapping. With Esri software you can add the power of location to modernize how you work. Esri helps to digitally transform utilities by enabling users to create, discover, share, and use maps anywhere, anytime, on any device. The Esri ArcGIS system is a comprehensive GIS allowing organizations to analyze and share their data across the organization. Operators and managers access ArcGIS for improved operational awareness and decision making. Field and office staff use ArcGIS to manage, update, and analyze information about customers, network assets, and work orders. To find out how to digitally transform your utility visit [www.esri.com/electric] to learn more.

Don’t miss the next episode of The GISt ft. Esri—covering GIS for utility collaboration. See you next time.

How utility leaders predict the future with GIS

At the core of running an efficient, resilient power system, there’s one singular need: interoperability.

Do you have one place where everyone, across teams and structures, can go to get the real-time information they need when they need it?

Without that, utility leaders are setting themselves up for failure to meet the rising expectations from consumers. But the good news? Maps make interoperability like second nature.

And this week on The GISt, we have a step-by-step how-to for utilities that want to strengthen their collaboration.

In the last of three top-notch episodes of The GISt with our partners at Esri, we’re joined again by Director of Electric Utility Solutions Bill Meehan & Director of Electric Industry Solutions Pat Hohl. 

And these two? They’re breaking down some of the coolest ways utilities are sharing information in real time—as it’s happening—to avoid redundancy, become more effective across teams, and nail the three Cs of power: collaboration, coordination, and communication.

This episode is brought to you by Esri.

Esri is the global market leader in GIS software, location intelligence, and mapping. With Esri software you can add the power of location to modernize how you work. Esri helps to digitally transform utilities by enabling users to create, discover, share, and use maps anywhere, anytime, on any device. The Esri ArcGIS system is a comprehensive GIS allowing organizations to analyze and share their data across the organization. Operators and managers access ArcGIS for improved operational awareness and decision making. Field and office staff use ArcGIS to manage, update, and analyze information about customers, network assets, and work orders. To find out how to digitally transform your utility visit [www.esri.com/electric] to learn more.

GIS for collaboration: Do more…faster

“As long as we have the data, the sky is the limit.”

The transition to a cleaner, more sustainable energy reality is a massive undertaking—and we all know by now that massive undertakings require a LOT of data.

So today on The GISt, we’re exploring how utilities and energy innovators are leveraging GIS to help integrate renewables into the existing grid to make it more diverse and more reliable.

We want to get the most out of our renewables investments…and GIS could be the key to doing so.

About our guest: Anthony Saylor is GIS Manager for The Ray, a company that aims to transform the transportation infrastructure of the future by building net-zero highways. They’re utilizing solar-powered EV charging, right-of-way solar, climate modeling, a vehicle-to-everything data ecosystem, and more—tons of cool tech powering the future, and much of it brought to life by GIS.

Can GIS reimagine the energy transition?

Gast: Henrik Heskamp

„Das war mir zu wenig Geographie.“
Sagt Henrik Heskamp über sein damaliges Lehramtsstudium und wechselte auf Diplom an die Uni Münster. Auf das Studium folgte ein Bewerbungsmarathon und erst die Weiterbildung in GIS brachte die berufliche Wende.

Heute arbeitet Henrik im Bereich digitaler Erfassung von Netzdaten wie Gas, Wasser und Fernwärme. Die Auftragslage in der Firma ist jedoch schwierig und Projekte fehlen.

Warum für ihn ein Branchenwechsel nicht infrage kommt, wie sich GIS in den Anfängen in Münster und Bochum gestaltete und über seine Reisebegeisterung, sprechen wir in der neuen NA 6/99-Folge.

In NA 6/99 - Der Geographen-Podcast stellen Dr. Sandra Laskowski und Michael Braun zusammen mit jeweils einem Gast die Vielfältigkeit der Berufsbilder und Berufsmöglichkeiten für Geographen vor, brechen jeweils eine Lanze für das Studienfach und rufen zu mehr Vernetzung untereinander auf.

Von NA 6/99 - Der Geographen-Podcast gibt's alle 3 Wochen eine neue Folge!

Henrik Heskamp zu Gast bei NA 6/99 - Der Geographen-Podcast

So you’ve got a lot of data…now what do you do with it? How do we turn a patchwork of energy technologies into a single cohesive model—one that’s scalable, reliable, and ready to deploy?

That’s what we’re talking about today: filling in digital gaps with GIS technology. Because doing so doesn’t just mean improving workflows—it can also mean optimizing gains for utilities across the board.

Our guest today is Matt Zimmerman, UDC Vice President of Systems Integration. Matt is giving an expert POV on the current state of digitalization, including an impactful case study showing how one utility is pulling off an end-to-end retirement of their paper asset construction—with UDC’s help.

This episode is packed with intel on how the design fabric of high-tech utility workflows operates in the real world.

This episode is brought to you by UDC.

As a GIS-centric systems integrator, UDC specializes in supporting its clients' projects and programs throughout the entire lifecycle—from conception to implementation. UDC’s services are tailored to utilities and infrastructure companies worldwide, offering geospatial technology solutions designed to maximize the return on enterprise digital investments.

Celebrating 20 years, UDC is proud to have achieved Platinum status in the Esri Partner Network program and has served over 75 utility organizations on projects related to Digital Design and Construction; Data Readiness and Maintenance; Data Acquisition; Enterprise Architecture; GIS Technology Stack Implementation; Utility Network Transformation; Utility Compliance Management; and Grid Modernization, including ADMS planning and implementation.

You can connect with Matt Zimmerman and his UDC team on Energy Central or at udcus.com to explore how to unlock the full potential of your organization’s enterprise digital investments.

Read more about UDC’s work mapping the last frontier of the digital utility right here: https://www.energycentral.com/home/post/last-frontier-digital-utility-r-O6rqeouzuP16R9X

The last frontier of the digital utility

When we look to the future of the electric utility industry, what do we see?

Better data. More efficiencies. Smarter grids. Simpler asset management. At least—that’s what we’re all hoping for. 

To make it happen? It’s all about location, location, location. And that’s where GIS comes in: Moving into the future of power, GIS will be instrumental in challenging the status quo, improving utilities’ understanding of where things are (from outages to assets to customers), leveling up what regulatory compliance really means, and breaking down siloes across the power org.

Today on our finale of The GISt, we hear from Dr. Comfort Manyame, director of geospatial R&D at EMPACT Engineering and an expert in GIS for nearly 30 years. Dr. Manyame covers it all, from the intersection of GIS and AI to the skillset of the next generation of remarkable power professionals. 

Accessible GIS is the key to bringing this industry into its next era. Today, we’re talking about how that happens, who stands to benefit the most, and where we’re headed next.

Moving beyond the map: How GIS takes utility leaders from reactive to proactive

In deze aflevering van Something Spatial duiken Niels en Jeroen van Winden (CTO Esri Nederland) in de razendsnelle ontwikkelingen rond geo-informatie, datagedreven werken en vooral de impact van AI op GIS. Ze bespreken hoe steeds meer mensen, ook buiten de traditionele GIS-wereld, geo-informatie gebruiken, en hoe AI en agents de manier waarop we met data omgaan fundamenteel veranderen.

Something Spatial - Van datagedreven werken tot AI-gedreven antwoorden

Das ist NA 6/99 - Der Geographen-Podcast. Dr. Sandra Laskowski und Michael Braun haben diesen Podcast von Geographen für Geographen und für alle Geographie-Interessierten ins Leben gerufen.

Zusammen mit jeweils einem Gast stellen die beiden die Vielfältigkeit der Berufsbilder und Berufsmöglichkeiten für Geographen vor, brechen jeweils eine Lanze für das Studienfach und rufen zu mehr Vernetzung untereinander auf.

Von NA 6/99 - Der Geographen-Podcast gibt's alle 2 Wochen eine neue Folge!

Welcome to the Energy Central Podcast Network—your ultimate resource for the biggest ideas, boldest perspectives, and best insights from across the electric power industry.

We publish…

Power Perspectives. From CEOs of major utilities to founders of energy tech startups pushing the envelope, Power Perspectives curates the news, thought leaders, and big picture conversations most important to modern power professionals—every week on Tuesdays.

The Watt & Why. Dive deep into utility business strategies, straight from the minds of the leaders deciding what comes next. Host Mike Smith leverages his own decades of power utility industry experience and leadership to get to the bottom of what inspires, drives, and challenges utility decision makers.

Piloting the Future. Hosts Kim Gergen and Lee Krevat go deep with the leaders, innovators, and forward thinkers responsible for not just imagining where our power future is headed…but building it day by day.

The GISt. This action-packed limited series demystifies the rapidly evolving world of Geographic Information Systems through focused, expert-led deep dives into the most future-defining GIS topics.

And there’s even more to come.

Energy Central is a community where 250K electric power professionals share, learn, and connect in a collaborative environment. Want to join in? Visit www.EnergyCentral.com to register for free.

New tracks tagged #GIS