A prehistoric modeling tool developed by GeoDecisions was used in several early environmental impact analyses for transportation projects. The application used GIS to identify the locations where environmental variables likely contributed to the settlement of populations in prehistoric times.
GeoDecisions, Inc. was formed on June 10, 1986, in State College, Pa., by faculty and staff associated with the internationally known Office for Remote Sensing of Earth's Resources at The Pennsylvania State University. Focused on land use control systems for computers, these individuals saw an opportunity to create an organization specializing in the generation, manipulation, management, and maintenance of data for geographical information systems (GIS) and other information management systems.
On Jan. 2, 1992, the company became a subsidiary of Gannett Fleming, and on Sept. 4, 1996, GeoDecisions was merged into Gannett Fleming and began to operate as GeoDecisions, a division of Gannett Fleming, Inc. At that time, GeoDecisions had six employees located in State College.
One of GeoDecisions’ early projects (1987) was a Clean and Green assessment for a county in Indiana. The project involved manually digitizing three map layers - tax parcels, soil data, and land use - on a back-lit digitizing table with a “puck” (pictured).
That same year, Robert Scaer took over leadership of GeoDecisions and identified a new strategic direction for the company outside the current traditional focus on GIS mapping. It was felt that in the near future the power of GIS to integrate and visualize data would become a core component to any agency’s or organization’s enterprise information technology (IT) initiatives.
GeoDecisions embarked on a business plan focusing on the vision of becoming the best GIS-IT company in the world. To meet this goal, the company invested heavily in developing the programming, database, and systems expertise necessary to develop and integrate GIS-based applications. GeoDecisions also made the fundamental decision to remain vendor neutral.
As GeoDecisions began to grow, a new company logo was created in 2001 to support the firm’s image as an IT company with strong GIS skills.
By 2005, GeoDecisions had acquired its first company by purchasing Kinetic Solutions based in St. Louis, Mo., and had obtained the coveted ISO 9001:2000 certification for its operations nationwide.
By 2006, GeoDecisions was successful in establishing itself as a nationally recognized leader in the IT industry specializing in advanced GIS solutions. It had grown to more than 150 employees operating out of 19 offices.
GeoDecisions focused on developing solutions that leveraged the power of maps and geospatial technology to provide clients with tools to visualize, analyze, and leverage their data to make smarter, more informed decisions. Key services include:
- Strategic Planning
- Need Analysis and Requirements
- Database Design and Development
- Systems Design and Integration
- Application Design and Development
- Wireless Technology Integration
- Transportation Logistics
- Image Processing/Remote Sensing
- Linear Referencing System Design and Implementation
- Web Design and Hosting
- Certified Training.
While maintaining a focus on projects for transportation agencies and local governments, it was determined that it made good business sense to further diversify the company. Ultimately, the growth of GeoDecisions was a result of successfully developing first-of-a-kind solutions for clients in four major markets: transportation, military, state and local government, and commercial.
Highlights of GeoDecisions’ successes include receiving the MIT/Accenture award for developing the best Web-based application - IRRIS - for the federal government; the Oklahoma Governor’s Commendation Award for the Geographical Resource Intranet Portal (GRIP) for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation; and testifying before U.S. Congress on the use of geospatial technology for homeland security.
The firm also won the 2005 Center for Digital Government’s Best of the Web competition for the U.S. Attorney’s Office Project Safe Neighborhoods Mapping and Analysis Program (PSN MAP) and a 2006 Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania for the Crash Data Analysis and Retrieval Tool (CDART).
Additionally, GeoDecisions was recognized as the ESRI 2005 Partner of the Year for the Philadelphia region and was named the 2006 Technology Company of the Year by the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania.