Latest / DEWA Podcasts / DEWA enhances its capabilities in operating and monitoring water networks by adopting advanced smart technologies
Transcript
- 0:00Dubai Electricity and Water Authority enhances
- 0:02its capabilities in operating and monitoring
- 0:05water networks by adopting advanced smart technologies.
- 0:08Now, that is the official headline we are looking
- 0:11at today. And behind that, that corporate title,
- 0:15there's a really fascinating story about managing
- 0:17the single most critical resource in any city.
- 0:21Water. It absolutely is. We're looking at the
- 0:24intersection of heavy industrial infrastructure
- 0:27and really agile modern code. Our goal for this
- 0:31deep dive is to explore how Dubai Electricity
- 0:34and Water Authority is using a patented digital
- 0:37solution to basically revolutionize how water
- 0:40moves through Dubai. And when you say patented,
- 0:42that's a key word. This isn't something they
- 0:43just bought off the shelf. No, not at all. They
- 0:45built this. The core innovation has a well, has
- 0:47a very long name. It's the open platform communication
- 0:50gateway for data exchange between multiple water
- 0:53OT systems. OK, that is a mouthful. Let's break
- 0:55that down. Right. And a key detail is that this
- 0:57system has been patented right there in the UAE.
- 0:59So OT systems. We're talking about operational
- 1:02technology, correct? Yeah. The actual hardware
- 1:05out in the field, like valves and sensors. Precisely.
- 1:08And that's usually the friction point. You have
- 1:10your IT, your data wanting to talk to your OT,
- 1:12the pipes and pumps, and they just don't speak
- 1:15the same language. So this gateway is sort of
- 1:17a... A translator. It's the bridge. It enables
- 1:20round -the -clock remote monitoring and control
- 1:23by forcing all these separate systems to finally
- 1:26talk to each other. So it breaks down the data
- 1:28silos. It unifies them. It connects all these
- 1:31different operating systems to make data exchange
- 1:33incredibly efficient. Which feels like a huge
- 1:36strategic move. Yeah. And to really get the scale
- 1:39of this, you have to hear the vision from the
- 1:41top. It really frames this whole project. It
- 1:44really does. It connects directly to that top
- 1:46-level vision for the city. His Excellency Saeed
- 1:50Mohammed Al -Tayr, Managing Director and CEO
- 1:52of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, said,
- 1:55Dubai Electricity and Water Authority continues
- 1:57to strengthen its global leadership in adopting
- 2:00advanced digital solutions for managing critical
- 2:02infrastructure, in line with the vision of His
- 2:05Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rasht al -Maktoum,
- 2:08Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE
- 2:10and ruler of Dubai, to build future -ready cities
- 2:13based on innovation and sustainability. This
- 2:16achievement reflects Dubai Electricity and Water
- 2:19Authority's commitment to developing innovative
- 2:21digital solutions that enhance infrastructure
- 2:23efficiency and sustainability and reinforce its
- 2:27position as a global leader in utilities management
- 2:30according to the highest standards of reliability
- 2:32and future readiness. The solution also aligns
- 2:36with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's
- 2:38digital transformation journey and its investment
- 2:40in fourth industrial revolution technologies
- 2:42such as artificial intelligence and the internet.
- 2:45things it is an advanced model for leveraging
- 2:47open source technologies and smart software to
- 2:50improve water system efficiency enhance network
- 2:52readiness ensure round -the -clock service continuity
- 2:55and support dubai strategies for digital transformation
- 2:58and operational excellence while strengthening
- 3:00our ability to anticipate future challenges in
- 3:03the water and infrastructure sectors wow OK,
- 3:06there's a lot in there. But that phrase, fourth
- 3:08industrial revolution, that really stands out.
- 3:11They're explicitly connecting something as physical
- 3:13as water pressure to AI and the Internet of Things.
- 3:17Exactly. It's all about what he calls future
- 3:19readiness. But let's get into the technical side,
- 3:22because the engineering here is, well, it's pretty
- 3:25surprising for a major utility. I saw the notes
- 3:28on this. Are we really talking about Python?
- 3:30The programming language are the whole thing
- 3:33was developed using over 2500 lines of software
- 3:36code based on the open source Python platform.
- 3:39See, to me, that's the real aha moment. You'd
- 3:42expect this kind of critical infrastructure to
- 3:44run on some, I don't know, expensive proprietary
- 3:46legacy system. Using Python feels incredibly
- 3:50agile. Agile and fast. I mean, this isn't just
- 3:52some small script. The system can pull data from
- 3:55more than 150 ,000 database entries in less than
- 3:5930 seconds. 30 seconds. For that much data, that's
- 4:02almost real -time visibility. It is. But of course,
- 4:05speed means nothing without reliability. We are
- 4:08talking about the city's water supply. Right.
- 4:10You can't have the system crash. Absolutely not.
- 4:12So they've designed it with full redundancy.
- 4:14You've got main command centers, and then you
- 4:17have emergency disaster recovery centers ready
- 4:19to take over. All supported by application servers
- 4:22running 24 -7 ISO. All running 24 -7. And the
- 4:25impact is real. We're talking significant cost
- 4:28savings, much faster decision making, and quicker
- 4:31project timelines. It's just a fantastic case
- 4:34study. It's about bridging that gap between the
- 4:36physical world of pumps and pipes, and the digital
- 4:41world of AI and IoT. It ensures service continuity,
- 4:44definitely. But more than that, it proves that
- 4:47future readiness is about owning your code, not
- 4:49just owning your pipes. And it leaves you with
- 4:51a final thought, right? We think of open source
- 4:53code like Python as something for, you know,
- 4:56websites or data analysis. But here, that same
- 4:58kind of code is literally securing the water
- 5:00supply for an entire city. Thanks for listening
- 5:03to this deep dive.