Research

We don't just consult on the gap. We study it.

GridSphere maintains an active research practice focused on the problems that show up in the field — not in vendor decks.

01 / Focus

Where we work

The gap between what utility systems claim and what field crews experience isn't just an implementation problem. It's a data problem, a process problem, and increasingly, a sensor problem. Our research focuses on the seams — the handoffs between systems, the moments where topology meets terrain, where digital models meet physical infrastructure.

02 / Active Research

In development

We have active field research underway in operational technology sensing and vegetation management for electric distribution infrastructure. Details are not yet public.

If you're working on adjacent problems and want to compare notes, we're open to that conversation.

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03 / Published Thinking

From the field

Notes and frameworks from active engagements. More coming.

[ DRAFT ]

What sensor data actually requires from your GIS before it's operationally useful

Coming soon
[ DRAFT ]

Vegetation management and the network model: why the data gap is bigger than it looks

Coming soon
[ DRAFT ]

The five integration points where drone data breaks down in utility operations

Coming soon
04 / Approach

How we think about research

Most consulting research starts with a hypothesis and ends with a report. Ours starts in the field and ends when the problem is actually solved.

Because we work across the full arc — from network model integrity to crew adoption to control room readiness — we see failure modes that siloed researchers miss. The sensor that generates clean data but doesn't integrate with the GIS. The workflow that passes UAT but breaks in a storm. The vegetation model that's technically accurate but operationally useless.

That cross-functional view is the research. We're not studying one layer of the stack. We're studying what happens when all the layers have to work together under real conditions.

NEXT

Doing work in this space?

We're open to comparing notes with operators, researchers, and builders working on adjacent problems.

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