How WSP partners with Koordinates to deliver data-driven projects

The data powering digital twins

When WSP helps deliver major engineering projects around the world, one of their biggest challenges is to get accurate and up-to-date geospatial data to the people who need it.

This is particularly true with the rise of digital twins. These live, 3D visualisations of project data are extremely useful for teams working on the ground — but they often compound existing data management challenges.

Ryan MacVeigh is the VP of Digital Delivery at WSP. As Ryan puts it, “when I hear the phrase digital twin, I know there’s going to be a lot of data.”

Common solutions in the industry — such as using shared hard drives — don’t easily scale to meet the challenge of digital twins. Other potential solutions, such as extending legacy GIS providers, usually run into licensing difficulties.

Another alternative is building a bespoke solution from scratch, but as Ryan explains, “this is a lot more expensive, with ongoing maintenance costs, which isn’t the right choice for most clients.”

“Data is where Koordinates shines”

For WSP, the solution is to leverage Koordinates data management products. According to Ryan, Koordinates is an ideal solution for digital twins.

“Digital twins use a lot of data, and that’s where Koordinates shines. You can use Koordinates to organise the data platform, which is the number one thing that is required to have a digital twin go forward.”

Whenever Ryan and the team see the phrase “digital twin” used in a bid, Koordinates is a key consideration as a part of the solution. “Digital twins usually use geospatial data — and we know that Koordinates will be able to tick a lot of the boxes around data management.”

As Ryan explains, Koordinates “does a lot of things really well. I like the automated ingestion workflows, the on-the-fly projections, the clip-and-ship workflow. It’s also great that it automatically creates API endpoints by just simply presenting the data to the platform.”

"From my point of view, Koordinates is solving an important problem for our industry and I would recommend it to anyone. There’s really nothing out there with the same level of capabilities as Koordinates."

“It’s unique to Koordinates”

A major benefit for WSP is Koordinates’ integration of Kart, Koordinates’ open source tool that allows for distributed version control for geospatial and tabular data. Kart brings the efficient collaborative workflows that software developers have enjoyed for decades to data.

“Kart is a very novel and unique proposition within the GIS ecosystem. It’s unique to Koordinates, and something that the geospatial community has needed for a very long time. Kart allows us to manage data in an effective way — and not just any data, but data that is consistently changing,” Ryan says.

“With Kart, we don’t need to worry about creating copies and backups all the time. You can quickly see those change histories, roll back if necessary, and make decisions on how things have changed. Kart really is a standout piece of the Koordinates offering.”

For Ryan, Koordinates’ geospatial data products solve fundamental issues across the geospatial industry.

“From my point of view, Koordinates is solving an important problem for our industry and I would recommend it to anyone. There’s really nothing out there with the same level of capabilities as Koordinates.”

"The business is agile, proactive, with an emphasis on research and development that makes them a great partner for us."

“A great strategic partner”

Damien Cutcliffe is the Director of Business Development and Growth at WSP, and has worked closely with the Koordinates team on a range of tenders for over two years.

As Damien says, “Koordinates has been a great strategic partner. They’re incredibly flexible and responsive, and we’ve had an excellent relationship since the beginning.

“As a product partner, they have the perfect attitude. If a problem comes up, they always work collaboratively to find a way forward.”

Damien also appreciates the speed with which the Koordinates team is able to work.

“This will sound like startup cliches, but they’re all true. The business is agile, proactive, with an emphasis on research and development that makes them a great partner for us. I’m able to speak directly with senior decision makers, which allows us to move quickly.”

"The Koordinates team are very passionate about wanting to create something that has high value. It makes the team really easy to work with, a refreshing change amongst vendors that often want to shoehorn their solution into everything."

A refreshing change

Ryan agrees that the Koordinates team has been a great partner for WSP.

“The Koordinates team are very passionate about wanting to create something that has high value. It makes the team really easy to work with, a refreshing change amongst vendors that often want to shoehorn their solution into everything.

“We can talk openly and you guys are really knowledgeable. There's high passion with every member of the Koordinates team that I've talked to. That just makes it really easy for a consultancy like ourselves to have open conversations about these opportunities — and to get honest feedback and suggestions in return, not just a sales pitch. ”