Software Architecture Considerations for the Use of 4.0 Technologies in Water Utilities

Abstract

The global population is facing a water shortage as a result of the increasing concentration of people in certain areas, which puts great pressure on the operations of city waterworks. Water is a necessary resource for life, and most people take it for granted. City waterworks are required to provide sufficient potable water to all its residents 24/7. In order for this to be possible, the complex business of the waterworks consists of a large number of connected business processes, which should enable high-quality service, which often boils down to the problem of multi-factor optimization. The role of information systems is to ensure the smooth implementation of daily operations and the basis for making strategic decisions. It can be seen that the use of traditional information systems can only optimize the operation of city waterworks to a certain level. In this context, there is an area for the use of 4.0 technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence. In this paper, we will consider the elements of software architecture that can make the operations of city waterworks more efficient.
Keywords: smart city; smart water utility; software architecture; industry 4.0