2013 Keynote Speaker Announced – Carey E. Hidaka, IBM Software Group on Using Data to Mark Smarter Decisions

The symposium committee is pleased to announce that Carey E. Hidaka from IBM’s Smarter Water Solutions will be our keynote speaker for the 2013 ISA water/wastewater symposium. He will be presenting his keynote address on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 at 8:00am.

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Using Data from Municipal Water/Wastewater
SCADA Systems (and Other Sources) to Make
Smarter Operational, Maintenance, and Infrastructure
Investment Decisions

Carey E. Hidaka, MSc, MBA
Worldwide Smarter Water Solutions,
IBM Software Group

The keynote introduces the concept of Smarter Water Management and uses examples to illustrate how innovative application of data analysis and visualization can play a pivotal role in addressing industry challenges.  It leverages existing and new data sources and applies analysis / visualization / optimization tools, aggregating siloed data and creating situational awareness and insights to make better and timelier decisions.  Better decision making, whether in treating/conveying water or in repairing/replacing infrastructure prior to catastrophic failure, ultimately improves water/wastewater operations and efficiencies..

Fresh water, a fundamental requirement for life on the planet, is becoming a scarce resource as the world’s population grows and competition increases for available water.  It’s estimated that by 2050 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, stressing an already fragile infrastructure that provides basic city services like transportation, water, power, wastewater collection and treatment.

Against this backdrop, the world’s cities will require new and innovative approaches to address these significant challenges. Business-as-usual and traditional engineering solutions won’t be enough.

Smarter Water Management, through the smarter use of data from its many available sources, facilitates planning processes and maintenance and repair operations to better manage and forecast future water/wastewater needs and requirements.  Smarter Water Management, in combination with the discovery of new sources of fresh water, can help address the impending water challenges facing the planet.

About the Speaker:

Carey E. Hidaka, PE, MSc, MBA is a member of IBM Software Group and a subject matter expert in Smarter Water Management solutions and business development.  He has over 29 years of information technology experience and nine years practicing as a consulting engineer and PE focused on water resource planning and water and wastewater treatment plant designs and implementations for public and industrial sector clients.

Carey is a certified IBM consultant and has a Master of Business Administration degree with finance specialization from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Bachelor of Science degree, with honors, in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  He has published work in the Journal American Water Works Association, IBM Journal of Research and Development, Water Practice and Technology, and World Water.

About GrahamNasby

Graham Nasby, P.Eng., PMP, CAP is a project manager and automation engineer who lives in Guelph, Ontario Canada where he is the Water SCADA & Security Specialist for the City of Guelph Waterworks. Graham was the chair of the 2012 and 2013 ISA water/wastewater symposiums, and is currently the editor of the ISA Water/Wastewater newsletter. He can be contacted at www.grahamnasby.com