WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Transportation Research Board’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) issued a request for proposals to develop guidance for how state departments of transportation and other transportation agencies can enhance their asset-management capabilities through effective adoption of geographic information systems (GIS) technologies and encourage more extensive adoption of GIS technologies by conducting pilot demonstrations and workshops on implementation of GIS-based asset management. Proposals are due Nov. 11, 2011.

  EXTON, PA. – Bentley Systems Inc. announced that the call for nominations for its 2012 Student Design Competition is now open. University, college, high school, and technical school students are invited to submit projects designed using Bentley software, along with a short essay describing their work.

  REDLANDS, CALIF. — To achieve a robust GIS practice while reducing overhead costs in multiple offices, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), a global provider of environmental, health and safety, risk, and social consulting services, signed an enterprise license agreement (ELA) with Esri. The ELA provides unlimited access to Esri desktop and server software products and extensions throughout ERM's 130 offices in 40 countries.

 RICHMOND, VA. — Froehling & Robertson Inc. (F&R), Richmond, Va., is currently in the implementation phase of deploying Agile Frameworks LLC’s MetaField field information management system. F&R was founded in 1881 and is the oldest independent consulting and testing firm in the United States. Each year, the company provides geotechnical, materials testing, and environmental engineering services for thousands of projects across dozens of industries.

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF. — Corecon Technologies, a Web-based software developer for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, announced its CoreconLink 8.0 solution has achieved certified integration with the SAP Business One application. CoreconLink 8.0 provides a bridge between Corecon V7 and SAP Business One 8.8. 

 EXTON, PA. — Bentley Systems Inc. inaugurated a strategic relationship with The Engineering Essentials Company (TEEC) by investing in a minority equity position and by placing a Bentley representative on its board. Based in Philadelphia, Pa., TEEC is developing software to help AEC (architectural, engineering, and construction) organizations intelligently manage their engineering specifications and related codes and standards.

 Everywhere we turn, mobile applications are allowing users to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. A recent article in Business News Daily described just how essential mobile applications are to the current and future workforce. Research by New York-based AMI-Partners found that the use of smartphones and tablets by U.S. small and medium businesses is skyrocketing. AMI estimates that in the next 12 months, the number of small businesses owning smartphones will increase 40 percent from 3.5 million and those owning tablets will increase 85 percent from 700,000.

 HERNDON, VA. — Deltek Inc. announced the availability of its new Federal Intelligence Solutions that delivers detailed information on billions of dollars worth of planned architecture, engineering, and construction (A/E/C) related contract projects. According to Deltek, with this information on planned government projects, A/E/C firms can build federal sales strategies, develop an opportunity pipeline, and win more federal business to drive revenue for their organizations.

 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Transportation Research Board is holding a free, online-only, day-long workshop to educate the transportation community on the uses of social media on Wednesday, Sept. 21. "Keeping up with Communication Technology: An Online Workshop on the Practical Use of Social Media" will include two plenary sessions and eight breakout sessions. Each session will feature a speaker or host from the transportation industry. Those registered may participate in as many or as few sessions as desired.

 RESTON, VA. — You can receive a text or email from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) when waters are rising in rivers and streams near you. The service, called WaterAlert, allows users to receive notifications about water levels at any of more than 7,000 USGS real-time streamgages around the country. There is no cost to users for this notification service.