Jacqueline L. Mulhern
Tel Aviv, Israel is one of the world's meccas for innovation and the birthplace of many technologies that are changing the world. So, it’s not surprising that when it comes to smart and resilient cities, novel solutions are used across the board to help the city with the growing challenges it faces daily.
The Solution
Ayyeka’s project in Tel Aviv is part of its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which include access to clean drinking water and sanitation. To that end, Ayyeka tackled two of the city’s top water-related challenges with the same solution: how to guarantee safe and reliable drinking water supply, and how to drain and mitigate stormwater during heavy rain season. As one can expect; embedding data-driven work practices and implementing smart solutions are the most quick and resource-effective ways to overcome those challenges.
When it comes to the digitalization of critical infrastructure, Ayyeka’s solution is regarded as the best in class. And in the Tel Aviv case, its unique versatility enables the city to use a single solution to embed intelligence into the required key indicators: drinking water safety and security; and stormwater management. Ayyeka’s adaptability saves the city time, money, and complicated integrations.
Ayyeka delivers creative, high-quality Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions that extend the lifespan and capabilities of hard infrastructure with data and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The integrated solution of the Wavelet™ with the Field Assets Intelligence™ (FAI) platform are key components in a next-level IIoT system that digitally enhances hard infrastructure with machine learning. Ayyeka helps municipal and industrial clients streamline remote monitoring and field operations through AI embedded into field assets for efficient data collection, management and utilization.
Challenges
Extreme precipitation in the winter season accounts for 60% of precipitation in Tel Aviv, which is typical for coastal Mediterranean cities. It's hard to tell from day-to-day experiences, but like many other coastal cities, the winters in Tel Aviv are changing. And the factor of most concern is the precipitation patterns. Although total precipitation levels are similar to earlier years, their spread over the rainy season is quite different than in previous years. Heavy thunderstorms are more common. The impact is much more serious than a mere inconvenience. It poses a unique challenge to the stormwater collection and management systems of the city. The systems need to process heavy stormwater loads in short time frames. Ayyeka’s solution is deployed across the city’s stormwater collection network to monitor in real time the level and flow across the network. It enables the utility operators to get real-time notifications on abnormal events such as blocked and damaged drains. On top of the operational excellence, the solution helps the city to dramatically reduce the number of raw sewage overflows and the volume of untreated sewage dumped into the city's beautiful beaches.
Added Benefits
When it comes to the drinking water side, guarding the water supply is essential to foster local growth and prosperity and keeping the drinking water quality safe and secure is a top priority among Israel water utilities. Until now, testing the water quality was an offline task in which it was impossible to gain real-time situational awareness and respond to critical events.
The city tasked Israel’s leading integrator Afcon to bring its wastewater and drinking water networks into the vanguard of digitalization. Afcon, in turn, partnered with Ayyeka to make the city digital vision a reality
“As the leading smart city solutions integrator in Israel, Afcon, Israel’s biggest integrator, is working closely with the city of Tel Aviv. I see Ayyeka as the most important tool to create and scale smart cities into the 21st century,” said Moshe Gueta, Water Tech Division Manager at Afcon Control and Automation Ltd.
Ayyeka’s embedded AI for infrastructure is well recognized, and we won “Startup of the Year!” in the Sixth Annual Internet of Things (IoT) Breakthrough Awards for 2022. We have projects with more than 350 clients and partners operating in 6 continents.