Issue 2 2019

8 Acquisition International - Issue 2 2019 persistent underfunding of critical infrastructure is now hampering economic progress and exposing businesses and communities to significant risks on every continent. According to the Worldwide Economic Forum, global investment in infrastructure is expected to be approximately $80 trillion by 2040. However, experts claim that the actual global investment need is closer to almost $100 trillion. By the year 2040, the global population is expected to grow by almost 2 billion people – a 25% increase. Based on data provided by The World Bank, rural to urban migration will continue with the urban population growing by 46%, triggering massive demand for infrastructure support. Just like the above ground transport systems that will require a major expansion to meet demands, most of the buried infrastructure was built before many of us were born and it too needs to be upgraded. Tucker said, “The problem is that while we can see where repairs and replacements are required on the surface systems, we cannot easily see the damaged or deteriorating condition of the subsurface infrastructure.” Another problem is workers not having access to information on the nature, condition, and location of these buried assets. Compounding the problem is these records are often inaccurate, inaccessible, lost, or never existed in the first place.” Transformative improvements are now necessary to address the decades of underinvestment in deteriorating infrastructure above and below the earth’s surface. These infrastructure systems were never intended to support our current population and consequently they are both in dire need of capacity upgrades. As the buried infrastructure often lies directly below the Nation’s road, highway, and railway systems, any expansion, repair or replacement activity on any of these systems can directly impact one another. In fact, records show that every minute of every working day in the United States a buried utility is seriously damaged. When above ground infrastructure is damaged more times than not, traffic is disrupted and is a nuisance for commuters, but when buried utilities or pipelines are damaged, electrical and communication services can be lost, water services disrupted, harmful liquids or gases can be released into the environment and, in the worst-case scenario, there are serious injuries or fatalities. A global solution to a global problem Transparent Earth provides the ability to map and manage assets for their entire lifecycle. Transparent Earth is designed to capture, record, and provide visualization of the precise locations of surface and subsurface infrastructure anywhere in the world, thereby improving the entire management process of infrastructure assets from initial planning, design, construction, through operations and maintenance. Mr. Anspach stated, “By using ProStar’s technology to improve the methods for the collection, storage and visualization of infrastructure, industry would be able to better qualify the data and make more informed business decisions, ultimately making the work site safer and more productive”. What lies ahead for ProStar Although ProStar’s focus has been on industries that manage subsurface assets such as oil & gas and utilities, Tucker sees ProStar as being the de facto solution for any industry that would benefit from precision mapping and they have already started to expand into other vertical markets. ProStar now has major firms as clients in construction, engineering and surveying as well as State agencies including Departments of Transportation. Page Tucker stated, “We believe that our solution will have a global impact as the management and improvement of infrastructure is now a serious concern throughout the world and not just in the US.” To globally scale its cloud operations, ProStar partnered with Microsoft to offer Transparent Earth on Microsoft’s Azure. Tucker stated, “We selected Azure as over 80% of the Fortune 500 firms use Azure and it provides for a very low cost and secure platform that will now deliver our solution to anyone, anywhere in the world.” To expand its reach in the US and globally, ProStar is now in the process of going public and anticipates that it will be trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in the second quarter of this year. Tucker said the company will use the capital raised on the public markets to accelerate its operations by bringing on additional key resources and expanding its sales and marketing efforts. Tucker also shared with us that the company is now performing research and development in the areas of machine learning, 3D technologies, and augmented reality. According to Page, “I believe that technologies will continue to evolve at a torrential pace, as well as significantly improve the methods and sources of information that influences virtually every decision of our personal and professional lives -- even mapping.” More About ProStar ProStar is a Delaware corporation that was formed in 2014. The company has offices located in Colorado and North Carolina and this year will open another office in Vancouver, Canada. In a short period of time, the company has created an impressive IP portfolio, acquired several marquee clients and established several key strategic partnerships. The company has also assembled an impressive group of technologists and executive management that includes, Vasa Dasan, who spent 15 years as CTO of Sun Microsystems Services and Chief Technologist for Cloud Computing Division and Carl Lashua, a former CIO of HSBC Canada and France, and head of software delivery for Europe as well as Kevin Koch, a former Senior IT Director for Thomson Reuters. For more information of ProStar Geocorp visit www.prostarcorp.com “Having accurate utility data reduces risks to those workers required to build, maintain and repair them and reduces risk to the public and the environment.” - Jim Anspach, Founding Governor, ASCE Utility Engineering & Surveying Institute