Creating A Digital World with Precision Mapping Solutions: ProStar

The Silicon Review

“We are pioneers in cloud and mobile precision mapping. We continue to make a significant investment in creating a vast intellectual property portfolio that already includes 20 issued patents in the United States and Canada, with more pending.”

Mobile computing power coupled with advancements in cloud technology dramatically changes how software companies are disrupting traditional business practices, which in turn is transforming how end users do their work. The public sector is increasingly adopting cloud and mobile technology to streamline workflows and to allow data sharing among a broader audience. The geospatial industry is no different when it comes to adopting cloud and mobile based technology. New capabilities offered by cloud architecture have created a whole new operating environment and scalability for geospatial applications. For example, cloud technology provides several easy-to-use analytic and visualization tools that can be combined for a variety of geospatial and location-based applications. Just as it has transformed other industries, cloud technology is now poised to disrupt the geospatial industry, a result of managing big data, superior computation, and infinite scalability, achieving in seconds what would have previously taken several days if not months.

ProStar Geocorp is one such company that is disrupting an industry with a cloud and mobile geospatial solution that is changing traditional workflow processes and business practices of the critical infrastructure industry. The company’s flagship product, PointMan^®, is a precision mapping solution that is natively cloud and mobile and offered as a SaaS (software-as-a-service). PointMan empowers customers to leverage modern cloud technology and streamline their current business practices to drive a low cost of ownership and an increase of operational agility.

The ProStar solution also supports streaming and conflating data seamlessly from other enterprise systems of record and the IoT, including CAD, GIS, and Web-Mapping Services, to both desktop and mobile applications. ProStar’s solutions seamlessly connect the field with the office and provide the ability to precisely capture, record, display, and manage critical infrastructure data in real-time, including roads, bridges, railways, pipelines, and utilities. Some of the largest entities in North America have adopted ProStar’s solution, including Fortune 500 construction firms, Subsurface Utilities Engineering (SUE) firms, major utility owners, and government agencies.

ProStar Geocorp was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Grand Junction, CO.

Page Tucker, President and CEO of ProStar, Spoke Exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an Excerpt

Q. Let’s talk about ProStar Geocorp and how it came to the fore. So, what inspired you to start the company? Was there any prior experience that led to the establishment of the company?

Before founding ProStar, several popular mapping systems provided basic GIS capabilities, but none were designed to provide precise location data and information with real-time visualizations. In the U.S., there are approximately 500,000 line strikes a year, causing a $30 billion impact on the U.S. economy as a result of businesses not knowing where their assets lay. A method for collecting and mapping the precise locations of these underground utilities and infrastructure was deemed necessary for the safety of not only the assets, but the worker, the public, and the environment.

Q. ProStar specializes in the development of Precision Mapping Solutions^®. What can you tell us about these solutions? Describe briefly.

We have designed a patented mobile and cloud software solution called, PointMan, offered as a SaaS. It provides the ability to capture, record, and display the precise locations of critical surface and subsurface infrastructure, including buried utilities and pipelines anywhere in the world from a standard mobile device. All of the information can then be viewed and shared in real-time, either out in the field or in the office. It is very disruptive to the traditional business practices, and often changing old habits, and well-entrenched business practices can be very difficult, but we are now seeing adoption of our solution by some of the largest entities in North America, including Fortune 500 construction firms, the largest subsurface utility engineering (SUE) firms, and government agencies.

Q. PointMan —your flagship solution—is designed to improve the business practices of any industry involved in the construction, management and maintenance of surface and sub-surface infrastructure, including utility, oil and gas, construction, engineering and surveying, 811, and contract locating. Would you like to talk about your flagship solution a bit more?

PointMan delivers immediate, measurable value to any phase of the asset management lifecycle. It integrates seamlessly into major GPS/GNSS and electromagnetic cable and pipe locators, including Trimble, Juniper, Bad Elf, Radiodetection, Subsite, and Vivax-Metrotech, to record and visualize precise location data at survey-grade levels (centimeter accuracy). With PointMan, any standard mobile device can capture that information and have it automatically pushed to the cloud. In having a shared cloud and multiple export capabilities, all data is readily available to whoever is authorized to view that information, be it out in the field or the office, and is compatible for use in other GIS mapping software. Audit trails also aid in ensuring that captured data is adequately measured, quantified, and meets both project and regulatory requirements. PointMan works anywhere in the world, in any language, and in any currency.

Q. You must be decisive and persistent to succeed in this industry. With that said, what strategies do you have in place to stay ahead of the curve?

The critical infrastructure industry has used very antiquated and onerous business practices for decades. What we’ve done is disrupt the market with new technologies that we use every day in our private lives but don’t think to implement in our professional lives. Just like Airbnb and Uber used cloud, mobile, and GPS to disrupt the hospitality and transportation industries, we are also using cloud, mobile, and GPS to disrupt the surface and subsurface infrastructure industry. We just developed a more precise mapping solution that provides locations measured in centimeters as opposed to meters. To accomplish this, we have created proprietary processes. In fact, we have made a significant investment in creating a vast intellectual property portfolio that already includes 20 issued patents in the United States and Canada, with more pending.

Q. Where do you stand as a company in the current market landscape? Share an overview.

The pandemic has impacted many businesses, ProStar included. However, with our strategic partnerships and planning, we continue to grow both in client acquisition and in the number of employees. Although some of the projects that we would have been involved in were delayed, they have been pushed out into late 2021 or early 2022. Upon adding that, on top of the already scheduled projects of 2021, we see a significant increase in business. In addition to that, President Biden is working on a $1 trillion infrastructure economic stimulus package. We’re looking forward to the increase in projects as we are well-positioned and poised to benefit.

Q. What new endeavors is your company currently undertaking?

With PointMan, for the first time, With PointMan, for the first time, any size company associated with the construction and maintenance of infrastructure has access to an enterprise-level GIS and CAD system that enables real-time access to mission-critical information both in the office and out in the field at an affordable price. What’s more, we’re integrating AR (augmented reality ) that would permit the user to visualize a buried utility or pipeline’s precise location and actually see what’s below the earth’s surface through the mobile device., Additionally, we’re working on machine learning, where we could take the data provided and apply predictive analysis to determine things that could happen well before they do.

Q. About your plans, where do you think your company will be in five years?

We believe that our solution will continue to have a global impact as the management and improvement of infrastructure is a serious concern in the U.S. and throughout the world. We’ll continue to see adoption here in the U.S. and around the globe as we are now seeing some adoption in Canada, UK, Australia, and in other countries as well. We will continue to disrupt the market by implementing new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality, to improve business practices for the safety of the workers, the public, and the environment. As we are the leaders in Precision Mapping Solutions—particularly in subsurface infrastructure—I think we’re well-positioned to capitalize on this market not only today but throughout the next decade.

The Leader at the Helm of ProStar Geocorp

Page Tucker is the President and Chief Executive Officer of ProStar Geocorp. He has an extensive background in technology start-ups, including development, marketing, recruiting, capital financing, and executive management. Mr. Tucker first became known as a technology visionary in the automotive industry for combining data mining and predictive modeling with geographic information systems. Page was the founder of Impact Solutions, Inc., a Silicon Valley-based company he formed to provide state-of-the-art customer acquisition and retention solutions to the automotive industry. Page reorganized Impact Solutions and formed an e-auto business, the pioneer in the development of a web-based CRM solution that provided services to well over 900 dealerships throughout the United States before being acquired. Page went on to author several patents based on geospatial technology, including the methods for capturing, recording, and displaying the precise location of buried utilities, and in 2014, founded ProStar Geocorp. In 2016, the Colorado Technology Association named him ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ for his efforts and innovations in developing Geospatial Intelligence Software. Today, Page continues to serve as the company’s CEO and President.