Communities, all around the globe, seek to improve their economic and social viability. Advance systems allows organizations to forecast trends, run predictive analysis, collaborate, and provide leaders the ability to make Improved data-driven decisions.
The power grid is the origin for improved data-driven decisions capabilities in Emergencies. I guess we can define the Power Grid Data as the most important single data source for advanced Emergency Management tools.
I discussed this issue in a lecture I gave in INSS, The Israeli Institute for National Security Studies. The lecture was given in Hebrew, with Mr. Yonatan Shaham. The video is here.
This lecture was part of Securing Israel’s Electric Grid, an INSS Conference, Tel Aviv, October 2014. Israeli and international experts convene to discuss the securing of Israel's electric grid. Threats to the grid; solutions to the threats; the resilience of national infrastructure; and political aspects of the national infrastructure security were discussed.
Main Points:
PowerStation's, power lines, users, are the Origin for creating national situational awareness system, for preparedness planning and emergency management.
Electric power is present in any major Value Chain. You name, it is there, using electricity: communication, water, fuel, health, food, traffic….
We are familiar with the Israeli power grid, based on our national emergency planning projects. In the simulation presented above you can see Haifa bay, the brown part is Israel's fuel refineries, purple columns represent the demand for power in a given moment, if we see a change, it means that people left their houses, where you find a new pick – this is where they are now. It isn't that simple, but it is not rocket science, not yet.
When a missile strikes, the damage to the power grid is clearly presented. Moreover, the consequences for that hit are predictable: What would be in energy distress in few hours. The local refineries, with their limited capability to generate power, will be affected. We can run multiple scenarios deep into the future, all based on data, dramatically improving preparedness and resiliency.
The quest for resiliency means governments are moving away from the traditional reactive style of governance, and taking a proactive stance on preparing for events. Some will say that resiliency is as much a shift in mindset as it is the adoption of certain technologies. I'm not sure about this.
I am sure that Big Data Predictive analytics is the main tool in this emerging toolbox. Is it not too early to start? Is it too late? I would simply answer - It is the right time, now:
- Availability of agile high performance computing
- Availability of rich and deep data sources, everywhere.
- New tools for data fusion and big data analytics.
- Internet of Things (IoT) – alive and kicking
- New generation of IT experts, who grew into Big Data challenges, into the connected world.
This is by no means sci-fi, through the use of analytics and accurate and realistic visualization, data become powerful tool for decision makers and stakeholders. There is great potential in this professional challenge. This exiting way runs from getting the right data and process it in timely manner to effective UX and UI, a journey in the power grid.
INSS
The Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, Tel Aviv University
INSS launches and engages in innovative, relevant, high-quality research that shapes the public discourse of issues on Israel's national security agenda, and provides policy analysis and recommendations to decision makers, public leaders, and the strategic community, both in Israel and abroad. As part of its mission, it is committed to encourage new ways of thinking and expand the traditional contours of establishment analysis.
Asaf Ashkenazi Ltd.
We design solutions for major challenges, using Predictive Analytics tools. We know how to calculate the probability of future scenarios and present their implications. We provide predictions for emergencies, to ensure functional continuity. We provide other cutting edge planning solutions, using advanced GIS tools and proprietary IP, especially of patent protected algorithms.
Thanks to Alon Arnon and Uri Kaplan for their kind support to this project
