At a Digital Leaders Virtual event Heath Pritchard, Maria Teneke, Holger Kessler and Neil Brammall of the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) project reported on the progress to date of one of the Geospatial Commission's high profile projects. In the context of bringing many stakeholders to the table, technically aggregating data from different sources and sharing the data over the web, the achievements are momentous; about 40 utility and telecom network operators and local government agencies have agreed to share data for two pilots, a harmonized data model and symbology have been agreed on, a prototype online system for sharing location data over the web has been developed and tested, and pilots in the North East of England and in central London have been completed using the prototype. At the event it was announced that an initial report of the NUAR project has just been released.
There are several reasons that the two pilots have been deemed a success; most importantly fostering a spirit of collaboration among the participants, but also limiting use cases to just four, implementing data protection measures and developing a prototype system that demonstrated significant value to the participants during the pilots.
Use cases
There are many potential use cases for location data about underground assets; reducing utility damage during construction, efficiency of planning, efficiency of engineering design, efficiency of construction, data interoperability, emergency response, disaster planning, digital twins and strategic planning for smart cities to name a few. The NUAR project team decided to focus on only four.
Use case | Value source | User need | Reason |
Safe digging | Utility strike avoidance | Excavators need to identify all possible underground assets | So that users can dig safely without striking an underground buried asset |
On-site efficiency | Project efficiency savings | Excavators need to identify underground asset data in a single integrated view | So that workers can easily and efficiently orientate themselves on site |
Site planning | Project efficiency savings | Project planners need to identify the location and agreed attributes of all underground infrastructure assets | So that accurate and comprehensive plans can be made to avoid project delays |
Data exchange | Data exchange efficiency savings | Asset owners need to share underground asset data through a central platform | So that asset owners can send and respond to data requests without maintaining their own data response systems/functions |
Collaboration
Without a doubt the greatest challenge of the project thus far is bringing network operators and local government agencies to work together in a collaborative environment. In 2018 Northumbrian Water brought network operators and local government agencies in Newcastle upon Tyne together at the Northumbrian Water Group Innovation Festival. The result was a collaboration with a common purpose where utilities, telecoms, local authorities and partners worked together to develop a combined infrastructure map for Newcastle including water, wastewater, gas, electricity, telecoms and other underground services. It was reported that the event benefited from a spirit of cooperation which enabled local utilities, telecoms and local authorities to agree to share their data. A database was created in which each data owner remained a steward of its own data which was shared through a hub an available to all participants. At the festival a working prototype allowed participants to query the database and see all underground utilities on a single map.
System architecture
Neil Brammall described the system architecture used for the prototype. Its key features are that it supported live links using APIs and ETL processes for accessing network operators' and local authorities' data and it provided a web user interface to users for accessing and displaying location data and providing feedback. In response to a question Neil said that the pilots did not prove the value of providing an API in addition to a user interface for users to access the data and the jury is still out on whether this capability will be a requirement.
Data quality
There were no data quality requirements for the data submitted by network operators and local authorities for the pilots. I had the opportunity to see the system in action in downtown Newcastle and to compare the location of underground utilities with facilities visible above ground. What I saw verified what I expected, in much of the world there are data quality issues in network documentation and records. Neil emphasized that there is no silver bullet for resolving data quality issues. He suggested that NUAR can contribute to improving data quality by bringing attention to data quality issues and by promoting the benefits of better data quality. I would expect that a capability analogous to the "observations" feature of the prototype which enables feedback from workers in the field to be easily passed back to NUAR, network operators and local authorities will play a key role in improving data quality in the long term.
Data protection and security
A risk-based legal approach to data protection and data sharing security has been a major milestone for the pilot projects. From a security perspective the prototype system adhered to strict security standards and audit controls set by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) as well as OS guidelines. In addition it had to protect competitive information, for example, by restricting the size of areas for which data could be requested and by limiting the number of requests from individual users. This attention to data protection was key in achieving what has not been possible in previous projects with a similar objective - all 35 public and private sector organizations participating in the pilots signed data sharing agreements after review by their legal departments.
Demonstrating value
An important success factor from the initial Northumbrian Water Festival through the two pilots was the rapid development of a prototype system that allowed participants to experience the benefits of access to shared location data. The prototype, which was developed by the Ordnance Survey, enabled data to be ingested from many different sources, mapped onto a harmonized data model (developed together with the Open Geospatial Consortium MUDDI initiative), visualized on a single map with a common symbology, and made accessible over the web. The system was simple to use and could to accessed from handhelds the field.
Also important from the perspective of engagement was an additional feature which enabled feedback from the field. Referred to as "observations", this feature enabled workers in the field to contribute field notes such as inaccurate location or incorrect type of equipment or manufacturer, as well as report on the condition of the equipment such as serious corrosion, damage, leak, and other issues. During the Digital Leaders Virtual session this feature and other capabilities of the prototype were demonstrated by Holger Kessler.
Another key success factor of the pilots was immediate real world testing. Providing participants with access to shared data with minimal bureaucracy proved crucial in maintaining trust and buy-in.
Anecdotal feedback from participants in the pilots has been positive. The NUAR team is working on identifying and quantifying benefits to help build the evidence case for any future national rollout plans.
Next steps
Over the summer the NUAR team will be conducting additional work with utilities and local authorities in the North East of England and in London to help refine the requirements for a national system. To ensure any future system is fit for purpose, the NUAR team will continue to engage with asset owners and local authorities in the north east of England and London, in particular, reaching out to independent network and distribution providers as well as district heating operators to better understand their data and their willingness to participate. In response to a question Maria Teneke said that the team will be following a robust commercial process based on UK government procurement guidelines and will be interacting with the market prior to any invitation to tender.
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