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Geo Informatics 2-2008
interview the geosar dual-band radar mapping system. sector, and while new players will emerge, there will probably be a smaller number of larger aerial mapping companies in a few years. geospatial information services cover a multitude of things from gis-type services to data hosting and so on. it is obvious that the potential market here is huge, and as such will attract the interest of many mainstream it service companies. companies like fugro need to specialize in the areas where we can add the most value and where there are fewer competitors. our primary focus will not be the consumer sector or commodity markets but specialized niches of the geospatial information services business where we can leverage our know-how to provide valueadded services to our clients. and part of our role may be to take on the management of geospatial data for our clients. i don t see us getting into the geospatial software business, since we are primarily a service company. recently, fugro acquired earthdata, horizons and maps geosystems, three aerial mapping and surveying companies. one of the reasons for acquiring earthdata was geosar, a dual-band radar mapping system. goodman explains the strategy behind these acquisitions: we needed to take advantage of the rapid changes in the marketplace. we couldn t do this by growing organically. with the exception of our fli-map business, we had no aerilatest news? visit www.geoinformatics.com al mapping capabilities in the important us market so we needed to make an acquisition. it so happened that the owner of earthdata was considering selling his business, and we decided it would be a very good fit for fugro in the same way the acquisition of john chance & associates was an excellent acquisition when we first established our offshore surveying business. earthdata was a pivotal acquisition to establish in one move a strong presence in the us market. it also brought us technology such as the geosar radar mapping system, their lidar processing technology and so on. it has a wide client base including government clients ranging from the federal level to local governments, so it helped us to enter into new market sectors. it was a very strategic acquisition. geosar is a unique mapping system based on dual-band (x and p-band) radar transmitters mounted in an aircraft. what is interesting about it is that you can map through the clouds, at night and through vegetation. the x-band is reflected by the vegetation and the p-band by the ground, so it is a unique mapping tool. the middle east is an important geographical sector for fugro which has grown over the past couple of years because of increased revenues from oil and gas. as you can imagine, there are a lot of construction and surveying opportunities in a rapidly developing place like dubai. from our point of view, maps geosystems a well-established aerial mapping company with a very good reputation in the middle east and africa -- fitted well with our strategy to grow our aerial mapping business worldwide . when asked about the focus of fugro for the future, whether it be on working on short-term projects or long-term relationships, goodman is very clear: the key to the service business is to establish and maintain long-term relationships with your clients and be ready to respond creatively in coming up with cost-effective solutions. for me, it s logical: if you want to serve your clients well, you need to be able to adjust and develop your service capability as their needs change. it is also important to diversify your client base so as not to be too dependent on one particular market sector, because every sector has its ups and downs. eric van rees evanrees@geoinformatics.com is editorial manager for geoinformatics. have a look at www.fugro.com 39 march 2008
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