AlphaX AI providing benefit for Melbourne Smart Cities

M innovation’s Artificial Intelligence package “Asset Genie” is helping the City of Casey, Victoria’s most populous municipality, be one of Melbourne Smart Cities and has been nominated for the AIIA iAwards – Australia’s longest-running innovation recognition program.

The annual awards, run by the Australian Information Industry Association, recognise and reward excellence in Australian innovation that has the potential to create positive change for the community.

The iAwards accept entries from innovators across the whole Australian economy including individuals, groups, government and private organisations.

The joint entry features an Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning package for asset prediction and service optimization system named the “Asset Genie”. M-innovation has implemented the Asset Genie for Casey, one of Melbourne Smart Cities, to forecast the performance of the asset management and capital works function on its 400,000 assets for the next 50 years and beyond.

This Melbourne smart cities solution, has identified millions of dollars in savings and performance improvements, each year, across the municipality.

The council introduced the system in response to rate capping – one of the biggest challenges facing local government today.

From the outset, the vision of Casey’s digital manager was that to satisfy residents, the city needed to provide services “before they know they need it”.

As such, one of the primary goals of the system was the ability to predict events before they happened – the need to spend a large amount to repair a major roadway or a leaking roof on a community building.

Addressing these events in a pro-active and planned manner potentially reduces costs up to 7x (700%).

Making the Switch – AI to help Melbourne Smart Cities

Over the past 12 months, Casey adopted the Asset Genie package for mainstream data-driven decision-making across its asset management function.

The system analyses the performance of 400,000-plus unique assets in real time and forecasts the optimal funding and resources required to complete the 120,000-plus tasks that residents and other stakeholders request each year.

Phase 1 – Installation: The AI/machine-learning algorithms were integrated into the existing asset management database to enable analytics and predictions on live data in real time.

Phase 2 – Integration: The system’s user interface was moved onto Casey’s Business Intelligence web portal to provide access to the asset management team. M innovation provided training for the asset management team on how the system should be used to maximise the return on investment.

Phase 3 – Application: The first big test of the system was using it to develop Casey’s 2018-2023 Asset Management strategy. This assisted in setting policy, funding and resource allocations for the city’s ~$25M maintenance budget and ~$50M capital replacement program.

In the future, Casey plans to develop similar platforms that will predict and improve the outcomes that policy and funding changes have on other functions within the municipality, making it one of Melbourne’s Smart Cities.

It’s also possible to use the system to identify the presence of bribery and corruption.

Reduction of work-order costs

One of the stand-out achievements of the APSone is the predictions have forecasted a reduction of work-order costs from ~$1500 to about $350 when applied to general building maintenance allocations across the city.

This has reduced/capped maintenance and capital expenditure, enabling the council to allocate resources to other services for the welfare and wellbeing of residents. For example, city beautification and improved recreation facilities.

The predictive system not only provides the data that is needed for future decisions, but also provides accountability for historical decisions.

Recognising smart cities in Melbourne and across Australia

The M innovation & City of Casey nomination is being considered in the core category of Public Sector and Government at the 2018 Victorian iAwards.

The winners and merit recipients will be announced at the Victoria iAwards Gala Dinner on Wednesday 16 May.

Speakers for the evening include Frank McGuire, MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Innovation, and Alli Baker, Co-CEO of JobGetter, one of the world’s top HR technology companies to watch and one of Australia’s Cool Companies.

Previous winners will also share their successes since being recognised at the awards.