Market Trends: IoT Enables Smart City to Better Manage Public Infrastructures

Transcription

1 G Market Trends: IoT Enables Smart City to Better Manage Public Infrastructures Published: 26 September 2014 Analyst(s): Nagayoshi Nakano Monitoring public infrastructures has emerged as a critical issue for a smart city to ensure structural integrity and to improve operational and maintenance quality. Product managers and business developers need to include Internet of Things technologies as part of operational management. Key Findings The aging of public infrastructures, such as bridges and tunnels, has emerged as a critical issue because accidents involving such structures have occurred worldwide, and many public infrastructures need to be carefully checked and monitored in terms of durability. IoT technologies will contribute to improvements in monitoring quality. Conventional ways of monitoring, operating and maintaining public infrastructures need a huge amount of time, money and human resources as they heavily depend on proficient experts with skills in physical and visual inspection techniques. IoT technologies can help reduce costs. IoT technologies will be implemented in the Asia/Pacific region, where public infrastructures are newly built or planned, and in developed countries that face problems of aging and deteriorating public infrastructures. Recommendations Product managers and business development managers need to: Provide an entire set of infrastructure-monitoring solutions, including IoT technology, and communicate the impact of efficiency in a dashboard. Identify opportunities of information analytics that result from infrastructure management to traffic controls and urban management operations. Consider the possibility of forming partnerships with other TSPs that have IoT technology strengths, such as in sensors, networking, big data analytics and consultation, or of forming an ecosystem with construction, architecture and academic communities.

2 Table of Contents Introduction...2 Market Trend...3 Structural Integrity of Public Infrastructures Must Be Verified...3 Buyer Trend...4 Monitor Structural Conditions and Damages in Public Infrastructures... 4 Technology Trend...6 Example of Automatic Real-Time Bridge-Monitoring System...6 Consolidation of IoT and Human Expertise to Improve Maintenance Quality... 7 Market Structure Trend...8 Interoperability With Other Urban Systems...8 Issues on Monitoring Public Infrastructures Need to Be Resolved... 9 Public Infrastructures in Asian Countries Vendors to Watch Gartner Recommended Reading List of Tables Table 1. Percentage of Public Infrastructures 50 Years or Older in Japan... 4 Table 2. Monitoring Systems for Tokyo Gate Bridge Disasters...6 Table 3. ICT Vendors to Watch...12 List of Figures Figure 1. Tokyo Gate Bridge...3 Figure 2. System Overview of Automatic Real-Time Bridge-Monitoring System... 7 Introduction Monitoring aging and newly constructed public infrastructures has emerged as a critical issue for facility management organizations, including local governments, to ensure safety and security which is a significant factor in improving the quality of citizen life in a smart city as well as to reduce maintenance costs. Considering many public infrastructures, such as bridges, roads and tunnels, in developed countries, such as the U.S. and Japan, were built more than 50 years ago, their durability needs to be carefully checked and monitored for safety and security; this is a frontpage issue for the central and local governments. Monitoring public infrastructures seems to be mainly limited to old ones in developed countries. However, it should also be used for newly Page 2 of 14 Gartner, Inc. G

3 constructed infrastructures in both developed and developing countries, such as Southeast Asia. Monitoring public infrastructures has been implemented mainly by experts who have skills and expertise earned through extensive experience, which implies cost increases and the possibility of a lack of experts in the future. Internet of Things (IoT) technologies make it possible to improve the quality of maintenance, reduce the cost of monitoring conditions in real time remotely and produce big data analytics. A good example can be found in the Tokyo Gate Bridge (see Figure 1), constructed in Figure 1. Tokyo Gate Bridge Source: Tokyo Port Office, Kanto Regional Development Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Market Trend Structural Integrity of Public Infrastructures Must Be Verified In mature countries, public infrastructures are quickly aging, without sufficient public funding for concurrent maintenance and upgrades. In Japan, for example, it has been 30 to 50 years since many public infrastructures were constructed. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Japan, there are 157,000 road bridges greater than 15 meters in length, and 9% of them were "over 50 years old" in However, the ratio is projected to rise dramatically to 28% in 2021 and to more than 50% in Other factors to be taken into account include the substantial differences in bridge usage conditions today compared with when the bridges were initially designed and constructed in the 1960s, and the substantial increases in traffic volume on the bridges the number of vehicles as well as carrying capacity which make the bridge conditions much worse. The number of other public infrastructures that are more than 50 Gartner, Inc. G Page 3 of 14

4 years old will drastically increase, including roads; river management facilities, such as water floodgates; sewage lines; and others (see Table 1). Table 1. Percentage of Public Infrastructures 50 Years or Older in Japan Road bridges (157,000) River management facilities (e.g., water floodgates) Sewage runnels Harbor quay walls Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism However, when it comes to life-threatening issues that affect citizens, safety and security in public infrastructures like bridges and roads/tunnels must be paramount. Indeed, nine people were killed when the Sasago Tunnel collapsed in December The cause of the accident was reportedly deterioration and insufficient maintenance. Such accidents are not limited to Japan; similar cases are commonly found elsewhere. For example, three people were killed by the collapse of the Mianus River highway bridge in Connecticut in In 2007, 13 people were killed in Minneapolis in an accident on a highway bridge that was constructed in 1967 because sufficient measures were not taken to consistently monitor the infrastructure for stress marks. These fatal accidents were caused by bridge collapses, including newly constructed bridges, and occurred in Asian countries, such as South Korea, China, Indonesia and Vietnam. Issues of aging public infrastructures were already pointed out in the U.S. by the Department of Homeland Security in "Aging Infrastructure: Issues, Research, and Technology." As one result of those issues, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, in March 2014, issued a mandate for periodic inspections, every three to five years, of bridges and roads that are more than 50 years old. Inspections are to include four levels of evaluation: sound (safe), wait and see, need to employ preventive measures and need handling immediately. Buyer Trend Monitor Structural Conditions and Damages in Public Infrastructures Many cities are including infrastructure management and monitoring as an urgent resilience and disaster recovery strategy in their broader smart city plan. In addition, they need to build a strategy to monitor and manage those structures in a cost-efficient way and leverage the data from this strategy for energy efficiency in street lighting, insurance, and traffic and overall environmental management. A good example can be found in the Tokyo Gate Bridge that spans 2,618 meters; 48 sensor devices are installed on the bridge to monitor conditions, with about 2,800 data per second on distortion, Page 4 of 14 Gartner, Inc. G

5 elastic factors, motion of joint parts and other measurements. Girder bridge loads and the weight of vehicles crossing the bridge (approximately 30,000 vehicles per day) are measured with the method designated "weight in motion." It is worth noting that the 48 sensors are placed on carefully selected specific areas of the bridge, based on simulation techniques, to monitor its structural durability at the time a disaster, such as a sizable earthquake, occurs. There are three major purposes for monitoring systems, according to the Kanto Regional Development Bureau of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (see Table 2.). Make Quick Decisions About Bridge Safety After a Disaster Changes in parts, such as movement limiters and tie-down cables, which are prone to be affected by natural disasters such as massive earthquakes, are monitored with displacement gauges and accelerometers, including ones that use optical fiber. Based on the data about these changes, the bridge facility organization commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government checks the degree of soundness in components so that the government (which has responsibility for the operation and management by the regulations) can make a decision, within 30 minutes after an earthquake, as to whether the bridge can be used safely by emergency vehicles and when the bridge can be used again by others. According to the reference material issued by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, it takes approximately six hours to make a decision without the monitoring system. As the bridge is one of the important traffic routes in the Tokyo metropolitan area, it is critical to make the decision to reopen the gate as soon as the safety is confirmed in terms of emergency vehicle traffic. Gather Daily Conditions of the Bridge Any distortion and the temperature of the bridge are measured, and the changes in their correlations are monitored. Unreasonable changes in correlations imply that there is something wrong in the components and unexpected stress on the bridge. The bridge facility organization makes a report to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government so it can take quick action to check problems and provide maintenance. Collect Information on Preventive Maintenance Weights of the vehicles running on the bridge are measured. Weight loads have a serious effect on the deterioration of a steel floor system of the bridge. Data obtained with the weight-in-motion method by strain meters is expected to apply to preventive maintenance, such as effective inspections for detecting and predicting damage. However, the correlation between weight load and bridge deterioration has not been thoroughly verified. Gartner, Inc. G Page 5 of 14

6 Table 2. Monitoring Systems for Tokyo Gate Bridge Disasters Sensor Devices Displacement gauges Accelerometer 1 Accelerometer 2 Accelerometer 3 Accelerometer 4 Functions To check gaps in expansion apparatus To check collisions in expansion apparatus To check damages in shoes To check damages in movement limiters To check damages in tie-down cables Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Technology Trend Example of Automatic Real-Time Bridge-Monitoring System It is said that bridges are one of the most difficult areas for maintenance in public infrastructures. BRIMOS (Note: BRIMOS is a registered trademark only in Japan), developed by NTT Data, is a realtime bridge-monitoring system that makes it possible to collect valuable data for managing the emergency response in a critical time, such as a natural disaster. It also helps in sustaining safe conditions of the bridge and maintaining the bridge structure using various sensors' data, a highspeed data transmission network, and an information center at the ordinal time (see Figure 2). Page 6 of 14 Gartner, Inc. G

7 Figure 2. System Overview of Automatic Real-Time Bridge-Monitoring System Source: NTT Data Consolidation of IoT and Human Expertise to Improve Maintenance Quality Information on bridge conditions and deterioration collected through visual inspections by skilled experts is expected to contribute to improved monitoring quality. This will be achieved by using an automatic, long-term, continuous monitoring system, which collects data 24/7 and in real time and provides big data analytics. Dr. Sanae Wakamatsu Miyazaki, a manager in the e-community division of NTT Data with whom Gartner had an interview, pointed out the higher importance of improving the maintenance quality achieved through a synergy effect by consolidating the monitoring system technologies and human expertise, rather than relying on a general expectation of a reduction in maintenance costs. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, on the user side, seconds this viewpoint. With big data analytics, the implicit knowledge of experts, accumulated through long-term experience, is expected to be turned into formal knowledge to be utilized by inexperienced inspectors. This provides a bridge facility management organization with a great deal of benefit in terms of reducing maintenance-related costs by prioritizing the maintenance areas of the bridge the steel floor system, for example and improving the quality and efficiency of bridge operations. Gartner, Inc. G Page 7 of 14

8 According to the survey report of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, 83% of 1,799 smaller-scale local governments at the city and town level do not conduct periodic inspections of road and bridge public infrastructures, while 97% of 64 larger-scale local governments at the prefecture and "ordinance-designated city" level do conduct periodic inspections (see " [in Japanese] or "National Funding of Road Infrastructure: Japan" [a rough equivalent in English]). As a reason for not conducting periodic inspections, 65% of the local governments stated "lack of technology capability," 62% noted "financial problems," and 50% replied "lack of human resources." This survey report indicates how seriously local governments are addressing the two issues of finance and human resources with skills and expertise. Another important factor to consider is the possibility of shoddy construction and defective design found in public infrastructures worldwide. This is a very real possibility and indicates how important it is to monitor bridges after construction. Assuming the worst case of shoddy construction and defective design, systems to monitor bridges are indispensable to ensure safety and security for citizens. The following are the advantages and effects of introducing a bridge-monitoring system: Support early detection of bridge deterioration by continuously monitoring positions of bridge girders and bridge piers Support speedy disaster countermeasures to be taken at the time of massive disasters by providing damage information in real time Support the decision to prioritize inspection, maintenance and repair, and reconstruction by constantly providing data about heavy vehicles running on the bridge and the deterioration they cause Market Structure Trend Interoperability With Other Urban Systems Monitoring bridge conditions is very important in the case of disasters, such as massive earthquakes. Authorities like local governments, in collaboration with police departments, make the decision to limit or in the worst case, ban the use of the bridge. Conventional monitoring systems are a stand-alone type dedicated to one objective (such as a bridge) and are not linked to other systems. However, it is critical to have interoperability with other urban systems, such as traffic control and mass transportation, at the time of a disaster so that authorities can optimize traffic movement. Monitoring one bridge is not the only issue; other factors must be included: vehicle traffic conditions, mass transportation conditions, information on hospitals and medical organizations, availability of energy like electric power, and conditions of other bridges in the whole city. The example of Tokyo Gate Bridge with BRIMOS bridge-monitoring technology provides an important and actual step forward to monitor public infrastructures, and it also indicates how essential the interoperation with other urban systems is to ensure a safe and secure infrastructure of an entire smart city. Page 8 of 14 Gartner, Inc. G

9 Issues on Monitoring Public Infrastructures Need to Be Resolved Monitoring public infrastructures by sensor technologies is important and effective. However, there are issues to be resolved. Improvements to Sensor Capability and Durability There are critical issues related to improvements in sensor capability, such as security, accuracy and durability. In addition, there could be another issue: Sensors are placed in an inhospitable environment, and they may be battery-operated. (Note: Sensor devices in the Tokyo Gate Bridge are not battery-driven, but are operated with optical fiber lines by electric power supply systems.) The battery lasts approximately one year, but this is expected to be expanded to more than five years, as government regulations mandate that inspections be conducted once every five years; the same applies to sensor durability. Projects are underway to research wireless communications/maintenance-free ultraminiature sensors, sensors that can collect data about power consumption and dust and CO 2 levels, sensor network systems that are inexpensive and feature an easy-mount wireless communications function, and autonomous power supplies with the capability to convert heat and light to electricity. Consolidation of IoT Technology and Human Expertise Although they consist of a monitoring system with sensor devices to collect data on bridge conditions in real time, IoT technologies are not perfect for monitoring public infrastructures. They also frequently rely on visual inspection by proficient experts. It is very important to transfer the knowledge of proficient experts to IoT technology-based monitoring systems to improve maintenance quality and efficiency, while sustaining safety and security. The consolidation of IoT technology and human expertise and knowledge should be accomplished in a way that provides a mutual benefit. Price of Monitoring Systems It costs huge amounts of money to construct monitoring systems with optic-fiber-based sensors, although the exact cost depends on the size of the bridge and which systems are used. However, these costs should be substantially decreased so that monitoring systems will be widely implemented by smaller-scale local governments facing financial problems. Cost Benefit Scenarios and estimations for the cost benefit of monitoring bridges have not been established and verified. The bridge facility management organizations, including local governments, have to maintain the bridges or replace the bridges in the worst case. However, appropriate information about how much it costs and how long it takes to reconstruct a bridge and what benefit will result has not been relayed well enough for accountability to the citizens. On the other hand, a reduction in maintenance costs compared with the conventional way is not always realized by introducing a monitoring system as opposed to general expectations. Maintenance costs, which are generally Gartner, Inc. G Page 9 of 14

10 estimated between several hundred dollars and a few thousand dollars per bridge, depend on the size and condition of bridges and the maintenance quality, including frequency. Therefore, maintenance costs with a monitoring system could possibly be higher, for example, in the case of maintenance based on a five-year inspection cycle or very small bridges. Verification of Big Data Analytics Monitoring public infrastructures and creating big data analytics involve a brand-new technology area that is still immature, which makes it hard to get verified results for optimizing bridge operations and maintenance. It is necessary to improve the quality of big data analysis in collaboration with construction companies, architectural design companies and academic communities that have special knowledge and expertise, such as structural dynamics. This implies that most analytics and decisions still depend on human judgment that is limited to checking numerical data on the screen. Before introducing monitoring systems, bridge facility management organizations, including local government offices, will be looking for what benefit they can expect to realize as a result of using simulation technologies and big data analytics. This is the area where expertise and advice based on consulting are high requirements, which will be achieved only by forming ecosystems. Horizontal Consolidation of Data The monitoring systems collect different types of data in terms of usage, such as for maintenance and emergency measures at the time of massive disasters; hence, the data needs to be open to all stakeholders, including facility management organizations and citizen communities. It also needs to be shared so that the best holistic solution will be provided based on the best knowledge and expertise; at the same time, social inclusion will be realized regardless of how the data is used. Horizontal linkage and consolidation of monitoring data on best practices, such as was done for the Tokyo Gate Bridge or other bridges in Asia and worldwide, will become more important to improve accuracy in predictive analytics of failures and accidents, as more data will be stored. Public Infrastructures in Asian Countries Construction of Public Infrastructures Planned in Asian Countries As in the case of the Tokyo Gate Bridge, monitoring public infrastructures is necessary, not only for aging structures, but also newly built ones, because the lifetime assessment systems are included in operation/maintenance plans from the start, and improvement in maintenance is an important factor. In Asian countries like Vietnam and China, there are many plans to construct a new public infrastructure, which provide technology and service providers (TSPs) in a wide range of technologies from sensor components to analytics applications and consultations with great opportunities to develop a business installing components and systems, as well as operating public infrastructures. Page 10 of 14 Gartner, Inc. G

11 A good case for monitoring systems is found in the Can Tho Bridge in Vietnam, constructed in the Mekong Delta area, which has unfavorable ground conditions. In addition, many large trucks with heavy loads are running on the bridge. Under these severe conditions, in addition to concerns of possible erosion, it is necessary to carefully monitor the bridge conditions with systems like BRIMOS installed in the structural performance-monitoring system of the Can Tho Bridge. The data collected and analyzed using BRIMOS will likely be applied to traffic controls, as well as planning future bridge maintenance and management. Vendors to Watch Table 3 lists vendors to watch because they could form an ecosystem in the area of IoT in public infrastructures. Gartner, Inc. G Page 11 of 14

12 Table 3. ICT Vendors to Watch Semiconductor Sensor Devices Hardware Software Applications Consulting Services Accenture ARM Capgemini Cisco Eurotech Group Flexeye Freescale Fujitsu General Electric Hitachi IBM Intel Johnson Controls Microsoft NEC NTT Data Texas Instruments Oracle Renesas Electronics Samsung Schneider Electric Siemens Toshiba Source: Gartner (September 2014) Page 12 of 14 Gartner, Inc. G

13 Gartner Recommended Reading Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription. "Hype Cycle for Smart City Technologies and Solutions, 2014" "Market Trends: Digital Business Opportunities in Smart Cities Need IoT Foundations" "Internet of Things Can Help Public-Sector Services Reduce Costs and Engage Citizens" This document is published in the following Market Insights: Computing Hardware Worldwide Semiconductor Applications Worldwide Software Applications Worldwide Gartner, Inc. G Page 13 of 14

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