by Trevor Loveday

Northumbrian to pilot "game changing" roadside infrastructure data collection

TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Northumbrian Water has agreed to be the first UK utility to take part in a pilot with Ordnance Survey and telecoms firm, Mobileye, aimed at creating what it has claimed will be “the country’s first detailed roadside infrastructure dataset.”

The dataset will, said Northumbrian, provide “near-real-time, precise and detailed” data on the location of roadside assets including road markings, network boxes, traffic lights, road signs, lamp and telegraph posts, bollards, manhole covers, and drainage grates.

The data will be captured by fleets of vans and cars fitted with Mobileye's mapping technology to give a “street-level view of the nation's roadside infrastructure network.”

OS will cross-reference the information with its existing datasets and pull it together in one place to be accessible to other users.

For the pilot a number of Northumbrian Water's fleet vehicles will be fitted with small Mobileye cameras, which will help capture data across the North East of England.

Northumbrian Water Group’s operations solutions manager, Clive Surman-Wells, said the technology brought “so many benefits that have the potential to really change the game when it comes to helping manage our networks."

Northumbrian Water will be demoing the project at its 2019 Innovation Festival .

Northumbrian Water has reported that confirmed participants in five-day innovation sprints in its 2019 Innovation Festival include Microsoft, IBM, CGI, Ford, Wavin, O2, Reece, Aiimi, Wipro Topcoder, and the Institute of Civil Engineers. Each participant will head up its own sprint team that will comprise industry experts, academics, scientists, engineers, students and members of the public.

Each team will work on solutions to major social and environmental challenges.The teams will be made up of industry experts, academics, scientists, engineers, students and members of the public who will work together to come up with solutions to tackle major social and environmental challenges.