Geocart brings new remote observation technology to North America with new Montréal office
GEOCART, a technology provider based in Italy that specializes in remote environmental and infrastructure monitoring and observation, is launching a North American office in Montréal to house its research and development activities. The local team will be tasked with developing high-tech services, such as aerial survey and inspection of powerlines, railways and highways, as well as analysis of ground and vegetation.
How do utilities, roads, bridges and other key infrastructure located in isolated areas remain safe for public use? That is the question Geocart has been tackling since it was created in early ‘90s. The company has developed a unique system to provide structural assessments and ground analysis of secluded regions with precision.
Its methodology to gather the information on the ground relies on a wide range of technologies including laser scanner, hyperspectral sensors, thermal camera, airborne photogrammetry and satellite data. The information is treated using a software interface that relies on artificial intelligence to automatically calculate key data and assign priorities. This technology helps protect the environment and provide an extra safety net by assuring a constant and rapid evaluation of infrastructure such as power lines, railway tracks, roads, bridges and much more.
The new Montréal office is Geocart’s first foray in North America. The company is investing about 5 M$ to launch its Canadian operations and plans to build a team of programmers, geo data analysts and more over the next three years.
“North America represents a market full of opportunities with an ever-growing need for monitoring. It’s one of the largest territories on the planet, characterised, in almost half of its extension, by strong geomorphological, climatic and environmental complexities that make precise and continuous control and monitoring difficult. Montréal’s strong ecosystems in artificial intelligence and aerospace technologies, along with Canada’s vast landscape and territory are a natural fit for our mission,” says Davide Colangelo, Chief Analytics Officer, Geocart S.p.A. “We will be able to continue investing in our software and produce innovative solutions to monitor the ground, vegetation and the stability of key infrastructure in a time when climate change and extreme weather events require a detailed predictive analysis for protection of citizens and the planet and to make public services increasingly effective.”
Artificial Intelligence is both an accelerator and facilitator in improving these activities. The AI-powered software platform will provide critical information on the state of vegetation in the vicinity of the infrastructure monitored. The use of AI will enable us to carry out automated analyses of environmental and infrastructures monitoring and control operations. Machine learning and automatic recognition of data and images will make it easier for operators to quickly identify geometries, network elements (such as cables and supports) and criticalities, in order to draw up detailed maintenance, emergency plans and rapid responses.
Among its clients, Geocart counts numerous businesses and civil society organizations such as ENEL, TERNA, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) of United Nations (UN), the Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Autostade per l’Italia, TOTAL, and other world-renowned organizations.
“Geocart’s technology is a concrete example of how artificial intelligence can facilitate complex operations that are critical to the environment and our everyday life. With that in mind, Montréal International has been accompanying Davide and his team in this project from the get-go. Our city’s leadership and strong talent pool in artificial intelligence and aerospace technologies has risen to the occasion to attract an innovative endeavour while serving as a bridge between Europe and the United States,” said Stéphane Paquet, President and CEO of Montréal International.
“By selecting Montréal as the launch pad for its North American expansion, GEOCART is providing yet another boost for our enviable innovation ecosystem,” noted Hubert Bolduc, President of Investissement Québec International. “With help from our experts based here and in Europe, the arrival of this new R&D team will add to Québec’s expertise in areas like AI and machine learning.”
About Geocart
Geocart is an engineering company, based in different country in all over the word, working in the sectors of Earth Observation, Infrastructures, Energy, Environment and Territory, Civil Engineering, Farming and Forestry, ICT, developing innovative services that respond to every market need. Our mission is to observe, sense and anticipate the changes in the world, first of all listening to the client. We do this by using innovative methods and technologies, designing customised solutions and developing the right competence. Professionalism, creativity and promptness are our key words. We work day by day to develop new sensing tools and new survey techniques we need to characterize the territory and monitor the environment, because we are sure that the future is the most important space to be explored. We plan and produce solutions that use alternative sources to produce clean energy, because we think sustainable development is the ultimate result for a better world. So, thanks to our competence in the sectors of engineering and ICT, ideas become projects and needs become solutions. It is because we firmly believe in the planning feasibility and potentiality the new technologies can offer.
