TIH residents partner in development of ground-breaking asset auditing system

	The HSDA interface

Neighbours at The Innovation Hub, Jabula Projects and QSens Information Systems, have collaborated in the development of a ground-breaking digital asset auditing system designed to enhance service delivery and the fiscal and performance management of infrastructure projects.

Jabula's high speed digital audit (HSDA) is an innovative platform for auditing assets and asset conditions for both on- and off-road assets. This leading edge technology has been 17 years in the making, having been developed and adapted in countries like Libya and the Philippines as well as a number of Southern African countries. QSens joined the development team over a year ago and re-engineered the whole solution from the ground up to create a world-class system. The system has now been launched into the marketplace and is set to revolutionise asset and infrastructure management.

The HSDA system produces a geo-referenced video database of all assets, using high-speed video streams from cameras at a speed of 80 km/h. Video and sensor feeds are spatially referenced with a differential GPS and other sensors. The various sensors are then integrated to form a multi-dimensional picture of the environment.

Next, the video database is processed for assets and asset conditions. All the assets are geo-referenced and then classified according to the degree of damage or any other descriptive parameters. For example, road management systems would require the audit of the road in terms of defects like potholes, cracks, edge breaks, rutting and other defects. Through the use of the HSDA system, each individual defect could be audited for its precise location and size.

The final product is then published in the QSens-developed GIS and video enabled platform called Gisbox, which allows for the integrated video and asset data to be disseminated and leveraged.

According to Jabula's CEO, Edward Mogale, the system empowers organisations to plan their maintenance budgets more precisely and efficiently. This functionality will, for example, enhance the ability of municipalities and other government authorities, with limited time and resources, to respond with greater efficiency to the challenge of providing services to thousands and even millions of people. "Our system can provide local authorities with the tools to spend their money more effectively, by giving an accurate picture of the state of their entire infrastructure. A lot of the time, municipalities don't know what to do because they don't know what they have", Mogale says.

Hardy Jonck, CEO of QSens adds that the system can virtually provide the municipality with an instant integrated development plan. "It can enable even the smallest municipality to up service delivery by showing them where they need to upgrade taxi routes, install stop signs, or even improve their storm water design", says Jonck.

The HSDA method of data capture can cope with the volume and complexity of changing data, while the audit principle ensures fidelity and confidence and enables decision-makers to use the information to make fast and accurate decisions. In addition, the system's open format allows the audited information to be integrated with existing systems like corporate GIS or asset management systems.

Driven by a strong commitment to investing in human capital and uplifting the community, Mogale stresses that part of the long-term vision is to use the HSDA system to "give each South African 'dignity though address'. There are 15million South Africans who do not have addresses. This system can turn that around by providing government with a data layer to give each South African an address", he says.

According to Mogale this technology is unique in the world and, while the IP has been acquired by a US company for the purposes of protection, Jabula has the sole rights to it in Africa. The partners are quick to add, however, that the technology would not exist without the people involved and give all credit to the development team that, over the years, has helped to build the system's success.

According to QSens' Human Resources Manager, Kobus Coetzee, the amount of effort that went into this development was nothing short of miraculous. "Being small companies working on such a low budget, and to have come up with something of such high value is simply amazing", he says.

For more information on the HSDA system, contact Eddie Mogale on +27 82 672 7008.