Data Based Decision Making
The water sector has a historical predisposition to risk aversion, founded in the reality that there are definite public health challenges associated with their work. The result is that the industry has unfortunately lagged the advances in technology, data, and analytics that have revolutionized a host of other industries including commerce, airlines, financial institutions, and political campaigns. Limited capacity in data acquisition and the tools necessary to curate and analyze that data have hindered the use of “big data” in water.
Other impediments for technology innovation in the water sector include:
- Technologies in search of a problem
- Adaptation of the technology to the water utility landscape
- Technology that is not able to address the entire problem
- Lack of open interfaces and middleware for integrating systems
- Water sector’s lack of access to Digital Twin Systems
New Data, New Opportunities
With the availability of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), rapidly decreasing cost of sensors, and the availability of massive data sets, including weather and climate, hydrological, and remote sensing information, water utilities now have a significant opportunity to expand their data footprint.
In order to realize this, however, utilities require a data infrastructure that:
- Provides a place for that data to land;
- Provides a curation mechanism for that data; and
- Provides the means to analyze that data.
Digital Innovation
The Water Tower’s vision is to bring together key stakeholders to address these challenges by taking the lead in demonstrating the impact of digital transformation and the integration of data platforms and systems.
This will be done through the following avenues:
- Providing a Data Exchange Gateway or API marketplace
- Bridging technology silos and beginning the path to data standards
- Exploiting the capabilities of AI, Digital Twin, Neural Networks and Machine Learning to ingest and analyze unstructured data
- Opening data for third-party developers
Control Central
Control Central, located at The Water Tower, will include the tools necessary to visualize digital technologies through a GIS-based system, SCADA, and creating a Digital Twin of multiple facilities. When you combine this feature with The Water Tower’s workforce development and training components, the opportunity for advancement vastly increases.