WALNUT CREEK, Calif., March 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brown and Caldwell, a purpose-driven engineering consulting firm creating and delivering water and environmental solutions throughout North America and the Pacific, has formed a strategic partnership with data/AI consulting firm Lantern that gives water utilities access to advanced digital capabilities to optimize their operations and customer service.

Water utilities increasingly rely on digital systems to manage assets, data and performance, yet many face challenges caused by older or disconnected technology platforms and limited internal IT resources. The Brown and Caldwell-Lantern partnership is designed to deliver practical, utility-ready digital solutions and services to meet these needs.

Lantern’s expertise and designation as a Microsoft Solutions Partner provides utilities with direct access to enhanced Microsoft tools and capabilities, including low-code application development, the latest data platforms and user-centered designs. This enables utilities to modernize workflows, reduce reliance on manual processes, and adopt new capabilities more efficiently. For these technical solutions, Brown and Caldwell serves as the client-facing integrator and accountable partner, creating a seamless experience to reduce coordination time, costs and vendor overload.

“Utilities need advanced digital capabilities to run their complex operations and reliably serve their customers now and into the future,” said Chris Puccio, Enterprise Technology Consulting National Specialty Leader at Brown and Caldwell. “With this strategic partnership, our clients have seamless access to utility expertise and enhanced modern technical excellence, creating an unmatched combination in the market. Our Brown and Caldwell team brings decades of trusted public sector and utility experience, while Lantern provides specialized technical talent. Together, we offer solutions that are both practical and innovative to improve our clients’ operational resilience and create long-term value.”

The Brown and Caldwell-Lantern partnership aims to address common utility performance challenges, including functionality gaps between clients’ enterprise systems, which could lead to inconsistent data, manual workarounds and slower decision-making. By delivering tailored low-code applications and integration solutions, the partnership can help utilities streamline workflows, enhance cybersecurity measures, and ensure that essential operational and customer information flows reliably across systems.

The partnership also addresses another common challenge for utilities: limited internal technical capacity. Complemented by Brown and Caldwell’s water utility and engineering consulting experience, Lantern creates custom, practical tools and provides ongoing support and maintenance services. This means utilities gain access to scalable project teams, support and technical capabilities that reduce the burden on internal staff.

“Brown and Caldwell brings deep, trusted utility expertise, and Lantern complements that with Microsoft‑native digital and AI capabilities built to move clients from readiness to real operational impact,” said Brian Sturgeon, US Country Lead at Lantern. “Together, we help utilities modernize how work gets done – turning existing Microsoft investments into secure, scalable solutions that improve resilience, performance and long‑term value.”

Brown and Caldwell and Lantern have been working together for the past seven years to provide utility clients with access to digital capabilities to improve utility management and performance. Together, the firms supported development of a low-code project management application that filled a critical capability gap in the California Department of Water Resources Division of Engineering project management information system, enabling portfolio, project, and resource management and reporting functions.

“The Brown and Caldwell-Lantern team has seamlessly integrated the chaotic business function of project management, using MS Power Platform, to deliver water infrastructure, water storage and flood protection projects,” said Cody J. Kimball, P.E., Supervising Engineer of the California Department of Water Resources Division of Engineering. “Our Project Hub application is significantly enhancing the Division’s ability to more effectively and efficiently manage projects for the Department because it is truly tailored to our business and technology context.”

Another recent collaborative effort supported asset management and workflow needs on large infrastructure projects like wastewater treatment plants and stormwater systems. Lantern designed and developed an asset data collection and management application to help Brown and Caldwell more efficiently collect, standardize and turn over asset data to utility clients at the end of multiyear capital projects. The solution improved data quality and completeness, increased transparency throughout the project lifecycle, and enabled continuous data collection – saving time and resources.

For more information about Brown and Caldwell’s Digital Solutions for water utilities, please visit www.brownandcaldwell.com/services/optimization. 

About Brown and Caldwell 

Headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, Brown and Caldwell is a full-service environmental engineering and construction services firm with 50 offices and nearly 2,400 professionals across North America and the Pacific. For more than 75 years, our creative solutions have helped municipalities, private industry, and government agencies successfully overcome their most challenging water and environmental obstacles. As an employee-owned company, Brown and Caldwell is passionate about exceeding our clients’ expectations and making a difference for our employees, our communities, and our environment. For more information, visit www.brownandcaldwell.com.

About Lantern 

Lantern is a highly specialized data and AI consulting firm purpose-built to accelerate the AI journey for organizations operating on the Microsoft platform. As a managed Microsoft and GitHub partner with North American reach, Lantern leverages over 20 years of proven delivery experience to help clients move from AI readiness to production. With deep practitioner expertise across Azure AI, Copilot, GitHub, and modern data platforms, the firm delivers scalable, cost-effective solutions, including agentic workflows and intelligent applications, that drive measurable business impact. For more information, visit www.lanternstudios.com.

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Jessica Reese O'Rourke

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