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.
The objective of this SBIR Phase I project was to assess the feasibility of creating an intuitive, location-based Infrastructure Intelligence System (code named Neptune), as Software as a Service (SaaS) solution for the water and wastewater utilities and public works agencies. Neptune's vision is to provide instantaneous access to infrastructure information on intuitive map-based interface to manage assets and budgets with location-specific data. Our Phase I research confirmed the market need for Neptune, and demonstrated the technical feasibility to deliver a SaaS solution for water and wastewater utilities and public works agencies. Neptune represents a significant technological innovation in infrastructure information management; it will be a domain trend setter by delivering critical infrastructure information through one intuitive, powerful, comprehensive and affordable product. Current utilities software systems are complex standalone systems, typically used by technical experts. Neptune's simple interface will remove the technology barriers of entry, enhance the capture and retrieval of enterprise knowledgebase, and help extend the useful life of our infrastructure. The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) developed in Phase I has generated keen interest in all our pilot partners who are eagerly looking forward Neptune's commercial availability. Providing Neptune to utilities and public works agencies will help these organizations better manage our underground infrastructure, leading to increased reliability and reduced number of pipe failures. This results in minimizing the potential environmental damage from wastewater spills and helps protect public health in our communities. We believe that our Phase I research has demonstrated the feasibility, need and demand for Neptune in the water and wastewater utilities domain. Based on our extensive experience in the utilities industry, we are also confident that the Neptune concept can be expanded to other infrastructure agencies such as Departments of Transportation and Electric Utilities.
