Data is Non-Negotiable: Why Infrastructure Resilience Starts with Construction-Ready Asset Data

In infrastructure management, physical assets may come and go, but the data behind them remains. It is essential to virtually every decision your organization will make over your asset’s lifetime: from budgeting and inspections to emergency response and capital planning. Yet many organizations still treat data capture as an afterthought – an administrative task that can be sorted out later. That approach is no longer sustainable.

Data is not a byproduct of infrastructure projects. It is the asset.

Whether it’s a 30-year old valve or a 60-year old water main, the decisions your teams make years from now will depend entirely on the accuracy and completeness of the data you collect today. And the most accurate version of that data is available at a single, critical moment: the time of construction.

The Missed Opportunity at Project Handover

Every project already generates data. But unless your organization enforces clear, digital data requirements, that information often arrives incomplete, poorly formatted, or in a form that requires manual rework before it can be used. Some assets are handed over with mismatched descriptions, imprecise locations, or even missing entirely from your GIS.

You wouldn’t accept delivery of an asset without a warranty, serial number, or location. So, why accept incomplete data?

The solution is simple: require validated digital asset data as a core project deliverable, just as important as a completion certificate or final inspection report. With the right tools and standards in place, asset data can be delivered in digital form, validated automatically, formatted and loaded directly as GIS and Asset information that is immediately usable and built for long-term value.

Why This Matters to Leadership

The implications of poor data extend far beyond the GIS team. Inaccurate or missing asset records directly impact:

• Operational risk: Incomplete data delays emergency response and increases service disruption across your network.

• Capital inefficiency: Lack of reliable asset history forces reactive spending and undermines long-term planning.

• Regulatory exposure: Poor records increase audit risk and limit your ability to demonstrate compliance.

• Escalating costs: Teams spend more time locating, verifying, and correcting data than actually maintaining infrastructure.

The truth is: rework isn’t just inefficient, it’s expensive. Recapturing data, sending crews into the field to validate asset locations, and trying to retrofit a system after project closeout all carry long-term costs that compound over time.

Changing the Rules: A Proactive Approach to Asset Data

It’s possible to flip this model. Rather than retroactively fixing data, organizations can implement a process where validated, complete, and spatially accurate data is submitted before final project signoff. This shift turns data integrity from a cleanup effort into a default and consistent outcome.

With validation platforms like Open Spatial’s As Constructed Design Certification (ACDC), organizations can:

• Automate the validation of submitted asset data against organizational and GIS standards

• Centralize compliance with all submittals and related documentation in one centralized location – one single source of truth

• Require errors to be corrected by surveyors, contractors, and engineering teams before acceptance by your organization

• Ensure GIS-ready data is delivered in the correct schema, format, and location – no recapture needed

• Accelerate time to insight with validated data ready to publish into your ArcGIS environment within minutes instead of months

This is not about creating more work. It’s about redefining what project completion means: the physical asset is delivered, and the digital representation is delivered with it – ready to use, for the life of the asset. In fact, customers realize substantial reduction in work and great improvement in data quality on every current and future project.

A Foundation for Resilience and Sustainability

Managing infrastructure in a changing world requires more than good workflows. It requires accurate, available, and trustworthy data – because without it, even the best planning fails.

Automating infrastructure asset information capture at construction handover isn’t a technical preference. It’s a strategic best practice. It ensures your organization can operate with resilience, plan with confidence, and avoid costly surprises for decades after the initial project ends.

And for executives tasked with long-term stewardship, that’s not nice-to-have – that’s non-negotiable

Validated Data, No Rework

Open Spatial’s As Constructed Design Certification (ACDC) solution ensures that the most accurate data, captured at the time of construction, enters your systems correctly from day one. It validates incoming asset data from developers and engineers against your organization’s standards, eliminating errors before they have a chance to enter your GIS.

By shifting validation earlier in the project lifecycle, ACDC helps you avoid costly rework, reduce delays, and make confident, data-driven decisions from the start.

Want to see how ACDC can strengthen your data foundation? Book a 30-minute demo and discover how accurate, GIS-ready data at handover supports operational resilience for years to come.