A word from the boss

Welcome to our Autumn newsletter for 2021!

Repeatable Activities to capture data and automate processes

In this edition, we are excited to release X-Info Connect version 6.0, share APA Groups client success story, introduce some new Wantoks who have joined the Mipela team recently, present another X-InFocus tech tip and update of our teams activities in connecting people with information.

To open I would like to introduce the following new team members, Sina Ebadi – Products Team Lead, Sam Liyanage – GIS Specialist, Matthew Favento – Software Engineer, Rob Collett – Solutions Specialist working on our X-Info DBYD Next Generation RSOTF project. It also gives me great pleasure to welcome our most recent new client Pipe Craft in Western Australia to the extended Mipela family.

The big news internally at Mipela this quarter is the release of our 2023 Strategic Plan, focused on the theme of Lifecycle and the three words to guide us in what we do day to day are Responsive, Repeatable, Reliable where  our success will be measured by simplifying how people work. I’ve seen the Technology World change so much over the last two decades and it will keep changing – we need to keep changing with it. Our ability to change is what we do and hence a lifecycle approach to process and data management is critical to meet these challenges. Our X-Info suite of solutions address how you standardise data, manage change, execute work processes, drive quality, and connect with stakeholders. Our lifecycle management approach to centralising technical information and keeping it up to date and accessible means knowledge workers can be more efficient and achieve higher levels of performance. If you would like to find out more, please reach out to our Client Success Team.

To close I would like to acknowledge two very special Wantoks who were equally worthy winners of the 2020 JUSTIN FIELKE WANTOK ANNUAL PRIDE AWARD for their huge impact across the business internally and externally with our clients. Adam Herbert has been with us for just over a year, Alana O’Connor over six years and I will note the first at Mipela to win this annual award a second time (last in 2016). Congratulations to you both, thank you for your significant contributions, living our values and leading by example!

From all the team at Mipela GeoSolutions, stay safe!

Hayden McDonald
Founder and Managing Director

Something GISsy

False Colour Leads to the Truth About Burnt Areas

Remote sensing was used to fight and recover from the recent bushfires on Kangaroo Island.

Firefighters, farmers and ecologists needed up to date burnt area maps to plan firebreaks and protect animals. Boone Law (Adelaide University), responded by using free, multi-spectral Sentinel 2 satellite imagery. This has a 5-day revisit frequency and 7-hour preparation delay.

On receiving new imagery, Law required an additional two hours of processing to update a false colour map, using the Normalised Burn Ratio algorithm to assign red shades to burnt areas.

Spatial science fights fires in near real time.

Source: Spatial Points, accessed 11/6/20, http://www.spatialpoints.com/2020/02/04/visualising-burnt-area-impacts-on-kangaroo-island-with-satellite-imagery/

A word from the Boss

With work I am sure you will agree, some days are great, some days are good, some days are bad – we’ve all been there. I thought I would share some thoughts on how to be more productive using technology, with the aim to be working smarter, instead of harder:

• Focus on Systems Instead of Goals – systems are the best way to progress since they reward effort and we can control all the variables
• Track and Measure Output, Not Input – we need to have a sense of direction in those efforts, to know what we are trying to accomplish, a system is an ideal way to control how to achieve an output
• Live by the 80/20 Rule – helps you gain clarity on what is truly important to sustain innovative work
• Automate Repetitive Tasks – means more time to focus on creative and productive work
• Be Data Driven – allows you to focus on the facts and eliminate the emotion and opinions in our day to day decision making processes.

Our recent new clients include Canadian Solar, Goldwind’s Coppabella Wind Farm and Clarke Creek Wind and Solar Farm as well as Veolia’s Springvale Mount Piper Power Station Water Treatment Plant and pipeline to the extended Mipela family.

A word from the Boss

Welcome to our Spring newsletter for 2019!

In this edition we provide a wrap-up of our recent X-Info User Group meeting in Adelaide and some handy information for X-Info DBYD suite clients on getting the most out of your automated response system. We’ll also look at how renewable projects are utilising X-Info Suite for community engagement, stakeholder and land access management as well as automated contract payments.

I would like to acknowledge and welcome our most recent new clients, City of Greater Dandenong, Canadian Solar, Walcha and Vestas.

Karen Thompson, John Quigley, Neil Aikman and I are looking forward to catching up with existing clients, learning lots and meeting some new people at the 2019 Annual Convention and Exhibition of the APGA: “Infrastructure for the future” in Adelaide 13 – 15 October. Pop by and say hi at Stand 22 to see how we assist our Clients “Catch the Next Wave” use our technology to protect their assets, respond to landholders, construction material traceability, understand operational risks, and target field services by delivering high-quality solutions to support their key operations, projects and stakeholder interactions to consistently operate as productively as possible by doing the right things. Make sure to put your name in the draw for a chance to win a “CoolCabanas” – the worlds best beach sun shelter – that won’t blow away setting you up for the best summer by the surf!

Hayden McDonald
Founder and Managing Director

3 proven ways to empower technology

In this article, we share Isaac Regional client success story, a wrap-up of one of our 2019 #projectMAD initiatives to make a difference for those suffering with multiple sclerosis, present  another X-InFocus tech tip and update of our teams activities in connecting people with information.

Successful companies know that IT is not an afterthought—it’s a critical ecosystem supported by a strong team and connected by technology and processes, and it’s all about creating accord between these moving parts.

To empower technology and optimise its role for the delivery of information within an organisation, there are three things leaders must do.

• Operationally deliver relevant data, when and where it’s needed
• Tailor the experience to meet everyone’s needs
• Collaborate in real time to strategically make better decisions, faster.

I wish you all the best in your daily activities and would like to close by welcoming the following new staff Hine Laban Support Team Leader, Michael Short Senior Solutions Specialist and Mohsan Sadiq Project Manager in our Brisbane HQ. Our new clients AEROmetrex, APA Networks, City of Melton, Countrytell, Hunter Water, Isaac Regional Council and Cross Yarra Partnership to the extended Mipela family.

Hayden McDonald
Managing Director

Bringing  together data, systems and people

Eating your own dog food, also called dogfooding, occurs when an organization uses its own product.This can be a way for an organization to test its products in real-world usage. Hence dogfooding can act as quality control, and eventually a kind of testimonial advertising. Once in the market, dogfooding demonstrates confidence in the developers’ own products.

Wikipedia

From marketing and sales, to solutions, to support, to products, to admin, to the board, everyone at Mipela truly believe that using the X-Info suite makes them more productive, their work more enjoyable, and their workdays less stressful by connecting our data, systems and people. What is fascinating about the latest release of X-Info WebConnect business process software, we believe that the web browser based Activities are allowing Mipela to:

• Encourage fact-based, decision making
• Empower individuals and teams to be inter-dependent
• Encourage productive use of valuable time and our resources
• Increase trust, accountability, and visibility of completing our daily tasks
• Create a good feedback loop of where we are at, so we can look to continuously improve

This also allows us to test the latest versions of our products in real life usage to validate before it’s released, enabling proactive resolution of potential inconsistency or dependency issues, which is a humbling process.

Simplifying how work gets done

With the next generation development of the X-Info suite underway, our measure of success and in turn our clients depends on our ability to change. The instability caused by globalisation and advance of new disruptive technology guarantees only the adaptable will survive.

Success in the digital age is not only defined by the formulation of good ideas but the ability to implement those ideas in a rapidly shifting environment. Technology is changing the world at an ever increasing speed. Disruptive business models (Airbnb, Netflix, Uber) are leaving established organisations in the wake of their more agile competitors. Change can only occur when people, process and technology are aligned/connected.

We need to empower people to alter their ongoing operations at the point they capture data while delivering outcomes in a dynamic environment. This is where changing business environments, ERP implementations, reorganisations and mergers, changing product and service offerings, changing laws and regulations are constantly in flux.

But we can’t do it alone. With our suppliers, our partners, our people, our clients’ teams, together we are committed to the continuous process of analysing, designing and monitoring our activities to perform tasks efficiently and effectively and look forward to sharing more on this in future newsletters.

Solving our clients’ needs

In this edition we provide a wrap up of the first Oceanic Damage Prevention Conference (ODPC) on the Gold Coast, our recent X-Info User Group meeting in Brisbane, a sneak peak of the X-Info Aware Version 2.4 release,  the development of the Australian Safety Management Study under AS2885 and Linbeck Contractor’s use of our X-Info Plans Management.

I would like to acknowledge and welcome our most recent new clients, Transport Canberra and City Services and Yarra City Council. August 2018 recently marked the 21st anniversary of the company’s founding. A warm thank you to all of our team (past and present), suppliers, partners and clients for your continued support.

In closing, Dean Howell, John Quigley and I really enjoyed catching up with our existing clients, learning lots and meeting some new people at the 2018 Annual Convention and Exhibition of the APGA: celebrating “Australia’s Pipelines: 50 years of safe and reliable delivery of energy and water” in Darwin 8 – 11 September. Congratulations to Stephen Ohl on winning the Scrabble Luxury Edition!

Hayden McDonald
Founder & Managing Director

Data Never Snoozes!

In this Summer edition read about the capability of our team’s expertise to meet the compliance needs in your organisation.

We touch on AGL Energy’s move to Mipela GeoSolutions’ innovative and responsive, cloud hosted solution to simplify how users can now easily interact with their critical property business information.

Data is the modern world’s new gold or oil. It flows and pushes everything in the global economy, spawning terms such as “big data”. And just like gold and oil, this resource needs to be protected and so data integrity has become a critical part of any business.

Data is on overdrive. Data is exploding faster than our ability to put our arms around it, so you’re going to have to adapt. It’s being generated at break-neck pace, flooding out of the dozens of connected devices we use every day, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

An effective compliance solution is essential to good corporate governance and risk management. If you would like to reduce the risk of oversight, substantial fines, and demonstrate compliance, then contact us today to see how Mipela can assist you.

I would also like to recognise, and welcome to the Mipela family, our new Clients, Farming Together, Gondwana Consulting, Hydro Tasmania and TasNetworks.

Finally, I thank you for your trust and support through 2017. On behalf of the team at Mipela GeoSolutions, we wish you and your family a happy Christmas and safe travels during the festive seasons. We look forward to continuing to work with you in the New Year.

Hayden McDonald Founder & Managing Director

People – celebration of purpose

To think it all started because of ‘US’!

August 2017 marked the 20th Anniversary of the company’s founding, an important milestone for the company as we reflect on our heritage and accomplishments. Mipela GeoSolutions is continually investing in our talented staff and we continue to celebrate long term business relationships with our valued clients.

The quality of our team and their highly skilled work continues to receive very positive feedback from our clients who highly value our service delivery.

On reflection, the major difference I see between “old” and “new” GIS technology is that today GIS is more than cartography. GIS first generation products were foremost an application for producing good looking paper maps and doing spatial analysis with the underlying data. The current-generation GIS technology (such as our X-Info Suite) are slightly different in that they offer a project/solution-based approach, meaning that a map is just one part of the puzzle. A map is no longer the final destination, but can be the starting point to greatly enhance workflows as what I would term a “GeoSolution” to systemise or automate a client’s business processes.

Today, Mipela GeoSolutions deliver an array of services committed to our purpose of “connecting people with information”. We have fully embraced the sectors progress with our focus on how technology can meet the needs of our clients using our X-Info suite of software.

A warm thank you to all of our team (past and present), suppliers, partners and clients for your support over the past 20 years.