{"id":33051,"date":"2019-05-21T04:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/industry\/blog\/?p=33051"},"modified":"2023-05-31T16:18:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T23:18:23","slug":"launching-an-intelligent-future-with-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/government\/2019\/05\/21\/launching-an-intelligent-future-with-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Launching an intelligent future with AI"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Microsoft is pleased to sponsor the \u201cIntelligent Future: Summit on A.I.<\/a>,\u201d which The Atlantic<\/a> is hosting to convene thought leaders for a conversation on the future of artificial intelligence and its power to fundamentally transform government, industry, and society.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019ve been focused lately on the potential for AI to empower employees and shape the workforce of the future. While it\u2019s important to discuss the future of AI and its impact on society, I\u2019m excited to share how AI is already making a difference in government organizations today, optimizing operations, and creating a seamless experience for citizens. Thomas Kuczynski<\/a>, vice president of Information Technology at DC Water<\/a>, is joining me to explain how this world-class water utility is using Microsoft AI<\/a> for preventive maintenance. Like many public utilities, DC Water faced mounting pressure to reduce water waste and costs, while increasing business efficiencies and doing more with less. This prompted DC Water to begin its total digital transformation journey shortly after Kuczynski joined the organization in August 2013, with the goal of addressing those challenges as well as improving customer satisfaction, increasing system reliability and optimizing operations.<\/p>\n For DC Water, the path to becoming a \u201cdigital utility<\/a>\u201d started with several Microsoft Azure<\/a>-powered initiatives, such as:<\/p>\n \u201cDC Water IT is dedicated to delivering value to customers and improving our operations,\u201d explained Kuczynski, who leads a 60-member team and is responsible for a $20 million budget. \u201dDC Water has a long and rich history of innovation \u2013 applying the latest technologies to improve operations and increase reliability, and customer engagement is a natural extension of that culture.\u201d<\/p>\n With the single largest advanced wastewater treatment facility in the world, DC Water\u2019s first foray into AI is a solution to detect and classify sewer pipe cracks, defects, root infiltration, and attachments. DC Water\u2019s pipe anomaly detection system dramatically improves traditional manual inspection methods by fully automating the detection and classification of pipe anomalies in its 1,900-mile sanitary and combined sewer system. Using Microsoft\u2019s Cognitive Toolkit<\/a>, the evaluation process is reduced from hours to minutes. Defects are precisely pinpointed and output from the process will be used to create predictive models for pipe performance, allowing DC Water to make informed, data-driven decisions on replacing or rehabilitating pipes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe efficiencies from the AI-based image recognition and processing make it possible to increase the amount of pipe that can be scanned, increasing the \u2018known knowns,\u2019\u201d Kuczynski said. \u201cThis allows DC Water to better target investments for repair and replacement. These more targeted investments help us improve the overall reliability of the system and avoid service interruptions.\u201d<\/p>\n While the pipe anomaly detection system reflects DC Water\u2019s first AI solution, there\u2019s much more to come. The utility met with Microsoft Research<\/a> in March to discuss multiple AI, IoT, and machine learning ideas to optimize operations and deliver improved services for the more than 700,000 District of Columbia residents and 17.8 million annual visitors. \u201cDC Water has an incredible amount of data collected over our 160-year history,\u201d Kuczynski added. \u201cOur leadership and technical experts are data-oriented professionals who recognize the strategic opportunity of using technology to gain better insights that enhance decision-making, reduce our energy consumption, avoid wasting clean water, improve the reliability of the system but, most importantly, help to better serve our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Microsoft and our partners are fortunate to collaborate with DC Water, other leading utilities, and state, local, and federal government agencies, which are leveraging our trusted cloud platform and AI solutions for smarter and more secure citizen services. At the same time, we believe business, government, and technology leaders have the opportunity and responsibility to prepare our workforce for how AI will change the future of work. Please read this recent article<\/a>, where I offer four areas of focus to support the future workforce in the age of AI.<\/p>\n Microsoft also delivers a vast array of digital skills programs<\/a> to help ensure young people are equipped for future jobs, while our AI Business School<\/a> provides practical guidance to leaders on how to foster an AI-ready culture. To reinforce our commitment to empowering government to strategically apply AI, on May 28 we\u2019re introducing a new, curated content selection within AI Business School specifically tailored for government leaders. Until then, please:<\/p>\n Microsoft is sponsoring The Atlantic\u2019s summit on the future of AI and to share how this powerful technology is already producing results for DC Water. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":415,"featured_media":45981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4285,1515],"post_tag":[4289],"content-type":[1492,1483],"coauthors":[1052],"class_list":["post-33051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-defense-and-intelligence","category-government","tag-ai","content-type-news-and-announcements","content-type-thought-leadership","review-flag-1-1593580433-637","review-flag-8-1593580469-325","review-flag-new-1593580249-279"],"yoast_head":"\nBecoming a digital utility<\/h2>\n
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The beginning of AI at DC Water<\/h2>\n
Continuing to innovate with AI<\/h2>\n
Preparing for AI and the future of work<\/h2>\n
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