World Computer Literacy Day aims to encourage everyone to make full use of information and communication technology.
Welcome to the Iamdata Solutions Asset Management Monthly Newsletter - 2 December 2022
Technology and data are so important in today’s world. Organisations have been collecting, managing, sharing, and maintaining large amounts of data since forever! In the past, data would have been kept in a hard copy format. Digital data and the technology available to process ‘big data’ was limited back then. Nowadays data is mostly digital and stored in secure databases on servers, and we have many tools available to us that we can use to analyse and interrogate enormous amounts of data to provide us with valuable insights. Whatever job you do, you need to have some level of computer skills in order to carry out your day-to-day tasks.
It’s not only in the workplace where you need computer skills. We rely so heavily on social media to keep in touch and communicate with each other. This is especially true with the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic where we were all forced into lockdown in an attempt to keep ourselves and our families safe. The lock-down and the push towards working from home has undoubtedly been the catalyst for increased technological advances and the need for good computer skills. I’m so thankful for the social media apps that helped me stay in touch with my friends and family during the height of the pandemic.
I have seen huge changes in technology since I started as an RPG II Programmer for IBM computers back in 1983. I love this little clip from the movie 'Peggy Sue Got Married'. It would have been almost impossible to imagine today's technological world back then.
I wrote a blog back in 2018 reminiscing about some of the technological changes that I have experienced since I started working in IT, which was a long, long time ago! 😮 You can read it here: old and new the changing face of data management and data analysis.
Even in the short time between writing that blog and today, I have seen changes taking place in technology and the way people engage and use it. Whatever the reason, there is a need to encourage and help everyone to make full use of the information available and to ensure the technology architecture is available to all so that they can engage with it and make good use of it.
Technology Requirements for Local Governments
Local Governments have been using technology to solve problems for some time. The challengers for our cities are changing rapidly. Some of the questions Councils are asking will be along the lines of what does technology mean for the city, and how can it contribute towards ensuring a quality of life for our residents and visitors to our area?
Councils have always looked towards innovation, and they often trial new concepts, materials, and processes to find the most efficient and cost-effective way to provide a service.
Asset Managers working within Local Government hold enormous amounts of data on the condition, maintenance, and operation of their infrastructure assets and use that information when making decisions about when to resurface a road segment, what materials to use, and to understand how long that surface will likely last, given the road hierarchy the road segment is attached to.
Capturing this data and using it to make well informed decisions is the aim but sometimes it can seem difficult especially if the data we need for our analysis is being captured managed and maintained in various different systems.
We need some good data integration tools and solutions at our fingertips. There are various ways you can bring your disparate data together in one place to crunch the numbers and provide you with insights, such as:
The next 3 year’s Capital Projects based on Budget
List of Assets for Inspections
Material Type Analysis – (for example, high number of recorded Defects for material type, etc)
This data can be used to improve decisions developing capital planning and maintenance management.
Data Integration Examples
Please feel free to check out these examples of how you could integrate your data:
Big Data, IoT, and Digital Twins
Making a city smart is like adding another tool to the Council’s tool kit and will provide Councils with many opportunities to leverage all sorts of data and use it to make informed decisions.
We’ve all heard the about ‘Big Data’, the ‘Internet of Things’ and a ‘Digital Twin’. All of these require data, technology, and skills to be able to analyse the data to produce meaningful information with valuable insights to improve the delivery, operation, and management of the physical assets on the ground.
World Computer Literacy Day
In this digital age, it is more important than ever that everyone has the opportunity to learn and take advantage of the technological advances available. Digitally literate people obviously have a benefit over those who lack digital literacy, and this is creating a digital divide in the world.
It's within everyone's interests to support World Computer Literacy Day if we are to continue to have the human resources needed to continue this technological journey.
Happy World Computer Literacy Day on 2nd December!
I have worked on many different projects with my Local Government clients, from designing and developing Power BI Reports, to building SQL Server databases for spatial data, to managing and maintaining the GIS and the Asset Management systems. If you'd like to discuss how we might work together, then please email me at ➡️ jill.singleton@iamdata.solutions
If you would like to receive the latest Newsletter Blog straight to your inbox, please subscribe here: ➡️ https://www.iamdata.solutions/subscribe
You can read all our Newsletters and Blogs here:➡️ https://www.iamdata.solutions/blog
You may also be interested in our Projects Page:➡️ https://www.iamdata.solutions/past-projects
Check out what our clients say about us here:➡️ https://www.iamdata.solutions/reviews
If you would like to see a particular topic covered in these newsletters, then please let me know about it. The chances are other people will be interested and would like to hear about it too! Please email me at: ➡️ jill.singleton@iamdata.solutions with your suggestions.
Comments