Category: Environment

AI Agents, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains, Environment, Productivity, Railwlays, Uncategorized, Urban Planning, Yogi Nelson

Navigating AI Disruption in the Railway Sector

Yogi Nelson

Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your technology questions are answered.   Harold asks, how will artificial intelligence affect the railway industry?

Harold, you came to right place.  I’ll answer your question by citing research reports from McKinsey & Company, International Union of Railways (UIC), and Startus Insights.  Let’s start with the McKinsey report, titled: The Journey Toward AI-Enabled Railway Companies.

Prominent AI Use Cases in the Railway Industry:  McKinsey Report Findings

According to McKinsey, railway companies are focusing their AI efforts on approximately 20 use cases.  It should be noted, the McKinsey identified over 100 potential use cases!  The top 20 use cases are related to four key performance indicators:  on-time performance, customer engagement, safety, and operational performance.  The table below summarizes the use cases by category:

Table 1
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE USE CASES IN THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY
Business ActivityDescriptionAI Use Case
Railway UndertakingsActivities that are directly & indirectly related to delivering the final productCrew trainingSafetyOnboard operationsRolling stock maintenanceTrain station operationsRolling stock procurement & inventory management
Infrastructure ManagementActivities that are directly & indirectly related to the infrastructure needed to deliver the final railway productNetwork planningNetwork traffic managementNetwork constructionNetwork maintenance Rail safetyNetwork procurement and inventory management
Passenger ExperienceCustomer facing activities related to the operations of the railway companyBooking and ticketingCustomer railway journeyPassenger informationIn-station additional revenue  
Support FunctionsEssential non-operational activitiesHRFinanceIT

Of course, not all use cases have equal priority.  In the table below, the five most common use cases are listed on the left, and the five least used on the right.  The other 10 are in the middle.

Table 2 ATable 2B
Top 5 AI Use Case in Railway IndustryBottom 5 AI Use Cases in Railway Industry
Crew and shift managementNetwork infrastructure digital twin
Rail predictive maintenanceReal time disruption management
Real time intermodal informationTalent training
Energy efficient managementAutonomous trains
Security fraudSoftware development

The Keys to Successful Incorporation of AI in the Railway Industry:  UIC Report

We now turn to the findings by the Union of International Railways; UIC per their French acronym.  The UIC researchers claims that the railways with the most successful AI abilities share certain characteristics. For example, these railway companies dedicate research and development teams to their AI efforts.  Furthermore, they establish cultures of innovation and investment in partnerships to develop new technology.  Yet a third reason is that they build capabilities to implement use cases; and take a business-driven approach (rather than solely relying on IT departments) to drive development.  UIC researches say, there are six specific keys to success: strategic roadmap, skills, agile operating model, technology, data, and adoption and scaling. 

Who Are the AI Disrupters in the Railway Industry:  StartUs Insights Report

According to StartUs Insights, a consultancy specializes in discovery of intelligence trends, innovation, and engagement with the world’s most promising startups, scaleups, and technologies, there are 20 AI startups impacting the railway industry.  I’ll refrain from listing them all, and instead highlight three that best exemplify the AI story in railways. 

Let’s start with rail safety and the startup called RMT.  RMT is based in Italy.  RMT specializes in automatic recognition of defects on rail infrastructure, and employing AI to detect physical defects.  Energy efficiency is the wheelhouse of RailVision Analytics, a Canadian startup dedicated to improving energy efficiency via algorithms that reduce unnecessary braking, throttles, and train handling adjustments.  Last, there is Cervello.  Cervello is an Israeli startup. Cervello says it provides railways with “… comprehensive security solutions and in-depth visibility of the operational network and infrastructure.” With Cervello misleading commands are identified.  Moreover, Cervello produces a contextual view of the affected assets and operational impact.

Time to go but not before ending with this famous lyric from the O’Jays:  …” People from all over the world join hands start a love train, love train …”

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson

AI Agents, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains, climate-change, cryptography, Environment, Uncategorized

How Blockchain Can Drive Chile’s Renewable Energy Transition

Yogi Nelson

Namaste Yogis.   Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your technology questions are answered!   As a bonus, a proverb is also included.  Today’s question comes from Fernando in Santiago de Chile, and he ask if blockchain technology can aid Chile in its transition to renewable energy?

Fernando, you came to the right place.  This is an excellent question.  I thought to myself what institution is likely to investigate this issue; thus while traveling through Chile recently I found a research paper from the World Bank titled, “Using Blockchain to Support the Energy Transition and Climate Markets:  Results and Lessons from a Pilot Project in Chile”.   Let’s go over their findings, but first a word about blockchains.

What is a Blockchain: A blockchain is a shared ledger of transactions between parties in a network, not controlled by a single central authority. One can think of a ledger like a record book: it records and stores all transactions between users in chronological order. Instead of one authority controlling this ledger (e.g. bank), an identical copy of the ledger is held by all users on the network.  Let’s examine how blockchain technology can play a part in Chile’s energy policy as it transitions from carbon-based energy and facilitates market solutions to climate change challenges.

Global Energy Transition: According to World Bank researchers, humans are racing towards renewable energy solutions.  The International Energy Agency, reports renewables account for 13% of the energy market; an increase of 24% since 2017.  However, the more insightful statistic is that from 2017 – 2024 renewables produced 70% of the global growth in electricity generation, led by solar photovoltaic and followed by wind, hydropower, and bioenergy. Why?  Industry expert say the accelerated pace of renewable energy sources is the consequence of both concern over climate change and the increased rate of technological innovation in the industry.  

Chile’s Renewable Energy Policy: Chile aspires to be a global leader in international climate policy.  The government has committed to phase out coal by 2040 and move toward carbon neutrality by 2050. Chile is on target to meet its commitment of generating 45% of all electricity from renewable sources.  Nice! However, Chile has more room to run.  In fact, some estimations suggest that by 2030 up to 75% of electric power generation in Chile could come from renewable sources. The energy transition—and the use of market instruments— may be the key to accelerating Chile’s emissions reduction targets. Chile is also exploring the development of a strategy for participating in integrated carbon markets.

Chile’s Renewable Energy Pilot Program:  Chile’s Ministry of Energy created the Public Solar Roofs Program to support the installation of PV systems in public buildings.  The objectives were to reduce the cost of operating public buildings, stimulate the market for PV solutions through the installation of solar panels, and generate free public access to information on the costs and conditions of PV projects aimed at self-consumption. Its objective was to test a blockchain-based system of certification for renewable and emissions reductions. The project installed hardware and developed a blockchain algorithm designed especially for DER installations. To validate data, project managers used a measurement system independent of the generation plant, which read multiple climatological variables, including solar irradiation. The blockchain platform records the following information:

• Geolocation in Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates

• Time stamp using Coordinated Universal Time

• Environmental data (radiation and ambient temperature)

• Electricity generation (obtained from the billing meter or data acquisition system) • Identification of the PV facility

• Media Access Control (MAC) address of the facility (unique identifier of the network device).

RESULTS: The pilot helped strengthen and develop the market for small-scale renewable energy generation, which has had difficulties taking off, by creating additional incentives through the potential sale of climate assets. The authors noted that although there are benefits to blockchain technology, scalability and replicability remain a challenge. Last, the project developed and generated a shared ledge system of relevant energy generation and emission reduction data.

Fernando, I hope you enjoyed this article about what your country’s transition to renewable energy.  I say goodbye with a proverb from Chile, “words are like the wind, they can carry good or bad seeds”.

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson

Artificial Intelligence, Blockchains, cryptography, Environment

CAN BLOCKCHAINS BUILD A BETTER PLANET?

Yogi Nelson

Namaste Yogis.   Welcome to the Blockchain & AI Forum, where your technology questions are answered!   Here no question is too mundane.  As a bonus, a proverb is also included.  Today’s question comes from Tomas, in Mendoza, Argentina, and he wants to know if blockchains can build a better planet?

Tomas, you came to the right place.  Afterall, if a technology is not improving the planet, it’s of no value.  I researched your question and found a fantastic report by PwC that speaks to your question.  I’ll start with a short mention of PwC, then offer an overview of their report. 

PwC, stands for Price Waterhouse Cooper.  With offices in 158 countries and more than 236,000 employees, PwC is a worldwide provider of professional services to businesses and governments around the globe. Bottom line, PwC is a major influencer and thought leader on the world stage and when they speak as an organization, they do so from a position of authority.  What does PwC say about using blockchains to build a better planet?  Essentially, plenty but before I delve into their findings, first a word concerning the report sponsors.

The report was prepared for the World Economic Forum Initiative on Shaping the Future of Environment and Natural Resources Security and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.  The report is one in a series of reports related to the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”.  This particular paper looks at blockchain and the earth. Time to examine the seven major findings.

Supply Chains.  PwC cites the ability of blockchain to create undeniable (and potentially unavoidable) transparency in supply chains. Recording transactional data throughout the supply chain on a blockchain and establishing an immutable record of provenance offers the potential for full traceability of products from source to store. Providing such transparency creates an opportunity to optimize supply-and-demand management, build resilience and ultimately enable more sustainable production, logistics and consumer choice.

Decentralized Management.  PwC argues blockchain can underpin a transition to decentralized utility systems at scale. Platforms could collate distributed data on resources thereby ending the current asymmetry of information that exists between stakeholders, enabling more informed and perhaps decentralized decision making.  With blockchain peer-to-peer transactions, dynamic pricing and optimal demand/supply balancing would of course be possible, says PwC.

New Financing.  With blockchain tech, finance platforms could potentially revolutionize access to capital and unlock potential for new investors in projects that address environmental challenges.  PwC says, blockchains could transform finance from shareholder values to stakeholder values.  I like that!

Incentivizing Circular Economies.  Could blockchain fundamentally change the way in which materials and natural resources are valued and traded, incentivizing individuals, companies and governments to unlock financial value from things that are currently wasted, discarded or treated as economically invaluable?  PwC says yes!

Transforming Market Dynamics. PwC, correctly notes the power of combining blockchain with crypto tokens to optimize existing market, e.g. carbon, to create new opportunities for carbon credit transactions. Nice!

Next-Gen Sustainability Monitoring, Reporting and Verification.  The tech that powers blockchain has the potential to transform both sustainability reporting and assurances, says PwC. This could drive a new wave of accountability and method for managing risk and reward.

Disaster Preparedness and Humanitarian Relief.  First responders and relief workers using blockchain could use a new shared system in disaster preparedness and relief to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, coordination and trust of resources. An interoperable decentralized system could enable the sharing of information and rapid automated transactions via smart contracts. Awesome!

Time to end with this proverb from Guatemala:  “skill is worth more than strength.”

Until next time,

Yogi Nelson