Enabling Resilient Infrastructure Investments with Artificial Intelligence
The federal government continues to take steps to “free the data” — offering more open and transparent access to public information across disciplines to better inform public debate and decision making. This wealth of information at our fingertips is enormous. On Data.gov alone, as of February 25, 2018, there were 233,306 data sets from over 755 publishers including 166 federal agencies and sub-agencies. The data being collected by all levels of government, as well as the private sector reveals important details about our man-made or build environments.
However, the ability to organize and analyze this data treasure trove without artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is at best tedious, if not wholly ineffective. AI makes this difficult and arduous task nearly instantaneous. Artificial intelligence allows us to view and interpret data like never before. Artificial intelligence empowers officials at all levels to do the proverbial more with less, and to do so more efficiently. The information that this data holds becomes increasingly important as officials look to make resilient investments. Specifically, investments to revitalize our nation’s aging infrastructure are ripe for the application and infusion of AI technology.
In our everyday lives, the nation’s poor infrastructure means an increase in travel time on our aging roads and bridges and through our deteriorating airports, an escalating unreliability of our electric grid, and an overstretched, inadequate water distribution system for today’s sprawling urban centers. These infrastructure deficiencies impact residents and businesses. Without strong infrastructure, a company’s ability to manufacture and distribute their goods and services is hindered, an inefficiency which is passed on to the average consumer in the form of higher costs. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that impacts such as these from our nation’s deteriorating infrastructure will result in a $3.9 trillion loss to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025 as well as a $7 trillion loss in business sales, and an average of $3,400 of annual disposable income lost for every American household (1).
Infrastructure is vital to our nation’s economic productivity. Critical infrastructure — our systems of transportation, health delivery, communications, energy production, public safety, and manufacturing to name a few — is the backbone of our society. Unlike facilities that meet or exceed modern standards that are resilient and able to withstand severe weather events and disasters, infrastructure that is outmoded, and over-taxed suffers disproportionately and fails during these events.
The good news is that the Administration wants to take steps to address the gap in infrastructure investment, and recently proposed their Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America, in which the White House states that the “Nation’s infrastructure is in an unacceptable state of disrepair, which damages our country’s competitiveness and our citizens’ quality of life.” Furthermore, the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 as well as the two-year budget bill that was passed by Congress and signed by the President, places infrastructure at the forefront of not only government debate, but action.
As the Administration proposes to invest $1.5 trillion over the next ten years, including $200 billion of federal taxpayer funds, to improve and repair the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, there is a tremendous opportunity to make resilient investments. We now have the technological tools to help us avoid historically poor choices that have failed to adequately factor in the risks associated with the natural environment, such as floods and earthquakes.
Future Proofing Your Community
A study by the National Institute for Building Sciences demonstrates that for every $1 spent on mitigation $6 is saved in the long-term. One Concern’s AI platform allows government officials to see and understand these savings in real-time. Officials are able to maximize the return on investment and reduce risk for infrastructure projects by using our AI-driven platform to analyze data from the natural and built environments.
Now more than ever, AI-powered technology is poised to make a positive fiscal impact on national and local infrastructure investments. Employing AI in the design and planning of infrastructure, through seismic or flood modeling, allows elected officials and their planners and engineers to improve the resilience of their communities. For a nominal additional cost to a large infrastructure project, AI technology could identify and mitigate future risk stemming from natural hazards, creating a significant return on investment. By better understanding their future risk as well as their past risk, officials are able to rebuild better and smarter following a natural disaster or take steps to mitigate before disaster strikes. As jurisdictions spend their limited infrastructure dollars they should do so to ensure that… the rebuilt road or bridge withstands a seismic or flood event to serve as a lifeline of emergency personnel/supplies, the new wastewater treatment plant is sited out of the 1000 year flood plain, or a hospital and its supporting infrastructure is retrofitted to withstand the catastrophic earthquake.
Furthermore, AI technology will contribute to community preparedness. When a community invests in AI for economic development or infrastructure rebuilding, they are able to leverage that same technology to plan for disasters and conduct emergency response. By understanding their baseline resiliency and their future risk, elected officials and government leaders could make informed decisions to improve it before an incident occurs. One Concern enables this.
Our world is full of risk. Risk we cannot afford to ignore. In costly, taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects, current and future risk must be taken into account. By allowing engineers and planners to better identify potential risks in infrastructure development, both natural and built, they are able to look forward and mitigate the risks in their design. As our national debt and the economic pressures on states continue to grow, investments using taxpayers’ dollars must be well informed and done resiliently to ensure the long-term viability of our critical infrastructure and related systems.
~ Stephanie Tennyson
Government Affairs Lead
(1) American Society of Civil Engineers. Failure to Act: Closing the Infrastructure Investment Gap for America’s Economic Future. 2016.
