DPDC wins SAG Award for innovative application of geospatial technology

Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) has been honoured with Special Achievement GIS (SAG) Award in recognition of its exceptional application of geospatial technology to achieve greater efficiency and productivity in the electric power sector.

DPDC won the award on 15 July at the annual Esri User Conference, reads a press release. 

The company was picked from more than 100,000 organisations worldwide.

The SAG Award recognises best practices for organisations implementing GIS technology to make the world a better place. 

The DPDC is the first and only company in Bangladesh to receive the SAG award. 

Tapping on Esri's industry-leading ArcGIS platform for their electric distribution data management, the  DPDC  has successfully taken steps to modernize and improve business efficiency by removing manual, paper-based processes. 

The company also introduced GIS based mapping for planning,  system operation, and maintenance of distribution system networks in its three zones of operation -- North,  Center  and South Zone of the City.   

To further enhance the effectiveness of analyses and management of network performance, the DPDC also integrated  GIS and  DMS with an engineering power flow analysis system.  

Since implementing the new system, its whole network is georeferenced and available online for real-time  communication  and  information  sharing,  further  boosting  the  DPDC's  operations  and  service level. 

For example, a new connection for a new customer would normally take at least seven  days  to  complete  including  two  to  three  days  for  onsite  inspections.  But  with  the  new  system, such a process has been shortened to an hour or two. 

Swpan Kumar Bhowmik, Project Director and Superintendent Engineer of the DPDC, said: "The DMS offers us instant access to accurate data information, which helps us to deliver a more responsive customer service. Issues reported by customers are streamed in real-time to allow our staff to quickly resolve issues. This translated to better service for customers." 

In  addition,  Bhowmik  explained  that  using  the  ArcGIS  platform  enabled  decision-makers  to  achieve greater operational awareness of DPDC's entire electric distribution network – whether online or offline – in a single dynamic dashboard.  

"The platform also enabled DPDC to create a database of the electric distribution network from which  we  can  convert  data  into  another  database  for  conducting  advanced  engineering  analyses," he said.

 "All these   capabilities   have   allowed   DPDC   to   better   manage   operations,   maintenance,   renovations, and expansion plans of the electric distribution network. 

More importantly, DPDC is able to serve its customers better, which otherwise would not have been possible." 

Engineer  Bikash  Dewan,  managing  director  of  DPDC,  said,  they  will  continue  to  embrace  innovation and ride on technology in the power grid to improve work efficiency and effectiveness as well as to promote the development of Bangladesh into a smart city. 

Going forward, it plans to integrate DMS with new technologies like SCADA, AMI, and Smart Metering as well as the Smart grid Web based interface such as WebGIS with application software such as ArcGIS Dashboard, Collector,  Survey  123  to  further  strengthen  its  power  transmission  and  distribution  network  capability and capacity.