Press Release
February 20, 2001
Information Builders' WebFOCUS Mobile Keeps City of Richmond Above Water
Web-Based Business Intelligence Solution Provides City Officials with Vital Public Works Data Remotely
New York, NY - Information Builders, a worldwide leading provider of Web Business Intelligence solutions, announced today the official launch of the Canadian city of Richmond's new Web site. Richmond is located immediately south of Vancouver on a low island in the Fraser River, only 3 feet above sea level, in British Columbia. Powered by Information Builders' WebFOCUS Business Intelligence solution, the Web site allows any city official to retrieve important reports regarding up-to-date drainage, river level, and pavement freezing alerts, water pump and sewage tank performance trends, equipment status and mechanical failures, and the like.
WebFOCUS had three outstanding features that attracted Richmond: First, it was capable of tapping into the proprietary database containing information from one of North America's largest supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. The SCADA system gathered data from 180 pumps, information which was often in excess of 2 million records per week. A WebFOCUS solution enables all of this data to be analyzed and reported in a powerful format. Second, through Information Builders' partnership with AvantGo, reports could be readily accessed by workers in the field via a wireless PDA such as a PalmPilot, BlackBerry, or Pocket PC. Third, the WebFOCUS system lends itself to future development because of its adherence to open standards and use of widely available hardware, making it a cost-effective and flexible choice.
"Access to Web-delivered information such as this is vital to manage a city's public works facilities safely and effectively, while simultaneously planning for the future," said Information Builders President and CEO Gerald Cohen. "With our business intelligence solution, WebFOCUS, we assist in delivering information immediately to city officials when they need it, no matter where they're physically located. In addition, a WebFOCUS solution such as the city of Richmond's can be implemented very quickly - in this case, it was up and running in six weeks."
The ability to access information via the desktop or PDA with AvantGo, wireless or wired, was particularly desirable for the various city departments. "That's a line that goes over really well with our staff: 'You can pick whatever device you want to use.' Users love to have a choice," says Edward Hung, manager of Richmond's Advanced Research and Technologies Team.
The city, which has won national and international awards for its beautiful boulevards, parks and communities, wants to combine an intelligent database with an inventory of trees on city property. Richmond is currently planning on implementing such a system using Information Builders' WebFOCUS.
About Information Builders
Information Builders is the leader in Web Business Intelligence. Headquartered in New York, Information Builders helps companies and government organizations improve their mission-critical operations by transforming data into usable intelligence and delivering it through the Internet. With its market-leading WebFOCUS product, Information Builders boasts more than 9,000 global customer sites, including 93 of the Fortune 100, among its current customers. The company employs 2,000 professionals worldwide and generated revenues exceeding $300 million in 2000.
