THE ROLE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN SAFE GROUNDWATER INTERVENTIONS

Digital transformation in water sector has been recognized as one of the most important drivers to accelerate progress towards SDG 6. Digital technologies are critical to transform the global water systems and help utilities to curb pressing challenges such as water shortage, leaking water distribution networks, and geogenic and microbial contamination of water. Digital sustainable groundwater strategy is to develop an efficient and low-cost water management system for drinking and agricultural purposes. Technologies like Internet of Things (IOT), advanced connected sensors, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtural Reality (VR) play a pivotal role in enabling the digital transformation in water. Machine learning and deep learning techniques help to develop cognitive solutions and hydrogeological models. Our digital platform ASMITAS helps to achieve safe groundwater interventions. ASMITAS consists of a data acquisition and aggregation system for identifying safe sources of water through systematically obtained scientific knowledge from the laboratory and harnessing local drillers knowledge. A robust decision system, which uses advanced analytics and Machine Learning (ML), helps decision makers, governments, local drillers, NGOs and ordinary users for more rational decisions. ASMITAS is offered in hybrid cloud-node model and is a high quality interactive platform for assessing arsenic risk in an aquifer during the tube well installation. ASMITAS provides a sustainable way for mitigating arsenic risk in groundwater by identifying an appropriate source and hence minimize expansive mitigation methods. Several hydrogeologists, chemical engineers and data scientists worked together to develop digital twins and AI models for sediments characterizations and sub surface analysis. In this presentation we will describe how ASMITAS has been deployed in Bangladesh for enhancing private sector capacity and developing decision making tools for various stakeholders. Moreover, we will share a holistic digital transformation strategy for arsenic mitigation and safer groundwater interventions for global scale application.