Top 2020 Utility Trend: Utilities Were Overwhelmed with Data

The following is an excerpt from our Expert Insights: The Top Utility Trends of 2020 & 2021 ebook. You can access the full report here.

With so many ways to collect data, utilities are collecting more and more of it. Have you ever heard the expression “too much of a good thing”? 2020 was a classic case of this.

THE CHALLENGE

Data is now easy to get. The new challenge is that there’s now too much information out there to separate the important from the insignificant. In 2017, there were 2.7 Zettabytes of digital data—and this number is predicted to grow to 175 ZB by 2025, reports the market intelligence company IDC.

Even with all this information available, many of the insights that would help utilities improve their operations are hidden because that data is unavailable, inaccurate, or unactionable. For example, if a ground team manually input data into a paper form or images were snapped from a shaky helicopter, this increases the chances of collecting unusable data.

THE OPPORTUNITY

AI comes to the rescue again. AI-powered platforms automate and streamline the process of turning a huge pile of data into manageable collections of only the most relevant data. This lets utilities use any modality to collect as much data as it wants—whether it’s using drones, satellites, ground teams, or helicopters—and rely on the ML algorithm within these AI platforms to pinpoint the data that will drive action.

Now, utilities can take fast action on issues, increasing efficiency, safety, and uptime for stakeholders, employees, and customers.

Download our ebook, Expert Insights: The Top Utility Trends of 2020 & 2021, to learn how you can take advantage of 2020 trends and 2021 predictions in data collection and GIS technology.