A Sim City like device to replace "roads for votes" come next election.
Some company out of Maryland - has this device thingy and apparently they are appointed to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador to pick and choose the roads we pave and when.
This device is apparently off the shelf technology that will tell us which roads are old and which ones are too old and then if they need paving - votes or not.
So the trick will be for each party to infiltrate Sim Roads and make sure their districts get the potholes done. And if you have a bridge - well now...
I did not find a reference to this under the Government News Releases but EXOR released the following yesterday:
1 August 2007
: Exor Corporation formally announced its appointment to the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador to supply and implement a Road Network Management System (RNMS) for the Department of Transportation and Works (NLTW).
NLTW sought an enterprise wide road and asset inventory database system to ensure the ability to manage past and current road network based data between branches of the department. This mission critical system will eliminate the duplication of data silos within the organization. Exor’s RNMS will provide a shared data bank in which all departmental users can access one single source of true data.
The need to minimize development and maintenance costs of this business critical function drove a strategic decision at the DOT to purchase a modularised Commercial Off the Shelf System (COTS).
This will ensure Newfoundland and Labrador adheres to the Canadian National Road Network standard, benefit from vendor led product development and reduce its ‘risk’ from natural staff turnover.
Exor will lead the comprehensive RNMS implementation project that will establish the road network and its associated inventory data within a relational database environment that includes a Geographical Information System (GIS) data and functionality. It will serve as a data integration platform (hub) to support multiple departmental applications for managing current and future road assets.
The RNMS will eventually be used to evaluate and prioritise work on the network, manage road condition and evaluate the lifecycle of assets. The initial phase of the implementation will establish a maintenance environment for the Newfoundland and Labrador Road Network (NLRN) and associated departmental road physical features inventory.
Cluney Mercer, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Engineer at NLTW: “We’re delighted to have Exor working with us on this project to provide us with an integrated road network maintenance system. The department recognizes the strategic importance of optimising the whole of life cost of its transportation network assets, and we believe that the RNMS will provide a solid foundation to support current and planned asset management systems.”
The Department of Transportation and Works is responsible for the maintenance of over 9,500 kilometres of primary, secondary highway and community access roads. The department maintains over 850 bridges throughout the province.
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Anyway the company does all sorts of things
About Exor:
Exor Corporation was founded in 1995 and is a global provider
of asset management software solutions for network centric
infrastructure industries. Exor established its operating base in
highways management and is
rapidly expanding into other
strategic markets including rail, water, power distribution and oil
& gas. Based on world-class Oracle technology Exor provides
clients with a modular approach to their individual technology
needs. Exor Corporation operates worldwide in Europe, North
America and Asia/Pacific. Exor systems manage 1,000,000 miles
of roads with an asset value in excess of $75 billion (USD).
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I wonder if it will take over our power distribution next or maybe our water resource management or even oil and gas. I look forward to the next appointment. I don't know Cluney - you may be replaced by a Sim Assistant Deputy Minister.
