SBIR Phase I: Designing an Infrastructure Intelligence System for Water and Wastewater Utilities Using the Software as a Service (SaaS) Delivery Model

该小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将评估为供水和废水公用事业和公共工程机构创建直观的、基于位置的基础设施智能系统AS软件即服务(SaaS)解决方案的可行性。目前公用事业行业中可用的软件系统是通常由技术专家使用的复杂的独立系统。从这些系统收集信息以进行决策需要大量的努力和技术专长，而大多数公用事业公司都无法做到这一点。如果这一努力取得成功，它将在基于地图的直观界面上提供对基础设施信息的最新访问，以使用特定位置的数据管理资产和预算。该项目将评估为环境保护局水力模型、资产管理系统以及开放源码地理信息系统和文件管理系统等软件开发应用编程接口(API)适配器的可行性，以创建一个可通过因特网安全访问的基于位置的集中式基础设施智能系统。对于自来水和污水处理公司以及其他保护公众健康和安全的基础设施机构来说，有效管理老化的基础设施至关重要。美国环保署估计，美国每年有超过24万条自来水干管破裂和17万条下水道干管破裂。据估计，修复我们的基础设施的费用高达数千亿美元。为了有效地确定基础设施维护的优先顺序，公用事业公司必须分析各种数据集，包括水力模型、地理信息系统、SCADA、维护、应急响应和项目文档。可用的软件是复杂的独立系统，需要大量的技术资源进行部署和使用，大多数中小型公用事业公司都无法获得这些软件。拟议解决方案的潜在客户包括美国各地的大多数供水和废水处理设施以及公共工程。如果成功，该项目有可能通过减少基础设施故障并引导公用事业公司采取积极的基础设施维护做法来提供显著的社会和商业效益。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will assess the feasibility of creating an intuitive, location-based Infrastructure Intelligence System, as Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for the water and wastewater utilities and public works agencies. Currently available software systems in the utilities industry are complex standalone systems that are typically used by technical experts. Collecting information from these systems for decision making requires significant effort and technical expertise that is not available for most utilities. If the effort is successful, it will provide up-to-date access to infrastructure information on intuitive map-based interfaces to mange assets and budgets with location-specific data. This project will assess the feasibility of developing application-programming interface (API) adaptors to software such as EPA hydraulic models, asset management systems as well as open source GIS and document management systems to create a centralized location-based Infrastructure Intelligence System securely accessible across the Internet. For water and wastewater utilities and other infrastructure agencies that protect public health and safety, efficient management of aging infrastructure is of critical importance. The EPA estimates over 240,000 water main breaks and 170,000 sewer main breaks annually in the United States. Estimates for fixing our infrastructure run into hundreds of billions of dollars. To efficiently prioritize infrastructure maintenance, utilities must analyze diverse datasets including hydraulic models, GIS, SCADA, maintenance, emergency response and project documents. Available software is complex stand-alone systems requiring extensive technical resources for deployment and use and they are beyond reach for most small and medium utilities. Potential customers for the proposed solution include most water and wastewater utilities and public works across the United States. If successful, the project has the potential to provide significant societal and commercial benefit by reducing infrastructure failures and guiding utilities towards proactive infrastructure maintenance practices.