CAD vs GIS In Telecommunications
- Mitch Boyd
- 38 minutes ago
- 4 min read
CAD vs GIS: Introduction
Today’s telecommunications services are more critical than ever, with customers clamoring for increased speeds, easier access, and lower prices. As the industry continues to grow in importance and range of applications, new tools and technologies are being developed and utilized to maximize efficiency and inform large-scale decision-making.
To meet these demands on a global scale, telecommunications companies harness digital tools to design their products, determine the most effective network planning strategies (i.e., where to place cables and other facilities), and study long-term trends to streamline their processes and strategies. Two of the most critical digital tools are Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
CAD and GIS are sometimes conflated because they are often used together in telecommunications, but they’re not the same tools. Ideally, CAD and GIS are utilized for different purposes on the same project to maximize efficiency with stronger data solutions and better organization throughout a project’s lifespan. While CAD is used to create clearly legible work prints and schematics for production, GIS is primarily used in network design, engineering, data management, and overall planning in telecommunications. Both are very helpful at different stages of telecommunications projects on their own, but when used together, they can provide comprehensive solutions for each task of a given project.
CAD vs GIS: What is CAD?
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) programs are used to create digital designs for products and structures. As defined by AutoDesk, CAD helps “creators to design, draft, and produce technical documentation — replacing manual hand-drawn and drafting techniques with a digital first process.” These programs are utilized to create 2-D drawings and/or 3-D models to aid in manufacturing products, planning large-scale construction projects, augmenting various engineering processes, and more. In the telecommunications field specifically, CAD is primarily used to create detailed construction prints and schematics. CAD differs from GIS specifically in its graphic creation capabilities. CAD gives users the flexibility to draw and create vector-based graphics without requiring precise geospatial accuracy, allowing CAD drafters to create detailed schematics that better reflect what construction crews need to do and know during their projects.
CAD vs GIS: What is GIS?
Esri defines Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as “a technology that is used to create, manage, analyze, and map all types of data.” Private companies and public organizations alike are bolstering their capabilities with technology, and raw data can become overwhelming to organize, digest, and analyze in high volume. This is where GIS comes in.
By organizing large amounts of data visually through mapping and virtual modeling, project stakeholders can maximize their effectiveness, stay on top of trends and insights from data, and use this information to drive future plans and actions. While CAD is most useful for creating detailed construction prints and schematics, GIS is best used to organize data in myriad ways, tailored to internal or external audiences, making what can be dense information into a digestible, visually appealing format. GIS data is rooted in spatially accurate models that can be used for an array of analyses. These analyses are highly beneficial in a project's planning, development, and review stages, making them highly valuable throughout its lifespan.
How do companies like ATCO utilize CAD vs GIS?
ATCO’s roots are in telecommunications engineering, but over time, we have expanded our service offerings using a blend of CAD and GIS tools to boost our efficiency. CAD vs GIS is often framed as one or the other situation, when ideally, you can use both for specific tasks to get the most benefits out of each. So, when do we use CAD, and when do we use GIS? Let’s use a common telecommunications project as a framework: a Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) project.
CAD vs GIS In an FTTH Project
For a company like ATCO, which has the capabilities to handle each step of an FTTH project in-house, we use a mix of CAD and GIS tools to be as efficient as possible. In such a project, GIS is used for planning, engineering, and by technicians to perform tasks like analysis, project scoping, network management, and data sourcing. GIS systems are used to manage digital assets and records, with which you can run various analyses and use different layers to show distinct planning stages. GIS databases also usually house key information about other utilities, such as the locations of power or sewage structures, which is essential to know when creating a network design.
On the other hand, CAD is used by drafters and permitting specialists to create construction prints, detailed permitting prints, and engineering schematics. CAD is best utilized between a project's posting and work-print creation steps. Specifically, CAD is used to create and design work prints that were initially created using GIS programs. Such work prints will eventually be used as reference points in the field for construction crews to take a network design from theoretical to tangible.
CAD vs GIS: Moving Forward
What is the difference between GIS and CAD? CAD is primarily used to create detailed drawings, such as construction prints and schematics. In contrast, GIS is primarily used to manage, analyze, and visualize a variety of data in geospatially accurate maps and models. CAD has had a long history of uses and will surely adapt to maintain its foothold in our quickly shifting technological landscape. Meanwhile, new GIS applications are growing rapidly across many industries, gaining momentum and popularity. Until the paradigms inevitably shift again, CAD and GIS are crucial tools in telecom that bring their own benefits, processes, and skillsets to the table.