Source: proactiveinvestors.com
Internet of Things Inc (CVE:ITT) (OTCMKTS:INOTF) has revealed that its Weather Telematics Inc subsidiary is collaborating with IBI Group (TSE:IBG) to develop the Winter Ice and Snow Decision Support System for Operations Management (WISDOM) platform.
WISDOM is a resource management and decision support tool that uses artificial intelligence to assist in real-time responses to winter snow/ice road clearing operations.
In a statement Thursday, Internet of Things said Weather Telematics and IBI have partnered with two Ontario counties to pilot the platform in the winter of 2020-21. They were brought together by the Ontario Centres of Excellence.
Winter road maintenance accounts for a large portion of Canadian cities’ operating expenses, the company noted. In 2018 alone, governments across North America spent upwards of $2 billion on winter operations.
With rapid population growth and more frequent extreme weather events, the costs of snow clearing are projected to increase further each year, prompting governments to analyze means to improve winter maintenance efficiency.
“We are extremely excited to be collaborating with IBI Group on the WISDOM platform,” Internet of Things CEO Michael Lende said in a statement.
“Surprisingly, most governments rely on basic solutions to manage their winter maintenance and cleaning processes. WISDOM has the potential of dramatically improving the ability to manage government resources, significantly lower costs and improve driver safety.”
Derek Sims, IBI’s global director of intelligence said the platform “holds great promise in its ability to help governments better manage their winter snow/ice road clearing operations, and to lower their use of salt products without negatively impacting vehicle and pedestrian safety.”
The WISDOM platform consists of three interactive components:
- Real-time traffic and AI-predicted road conditions information which is used to route snowplows to designated areas efficiently, while predicted road conditions allow for more informed resource deployment in response to upcoming weather events
- Automation for the dynamic routing of appropriate vehicles to assist dispatchers
- Deployment of sensors on select vehicles to obtain ground-truth road condition data that feeds into the previous two components, bettering prediction accuracy and adjusting responses
Together, these components create a feedback loop that achieves precise dispatching of winter operation units and reduces excessive use of salt and de-icing materials, Internet of Things said.
