Real-time data – Affectli

The Poetry of Consolidated Data in Motion

Tee Smith — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 10:14:50 +0000

I’ve said it before: Data is currency. But even more valuable to any organisation, is Consolidated Real-Time Data.

In simple terms, the more disparate systems in existence, the more loopholes that expose the risk of data being compromised, misplaced or delayed. Added to that, disjointed sets of data do not facilitate workplace efficiencies, or allow for informed decision making capabilities, especially in a crisis situation.

During Storm Eunice, millions of people around the world watched a live-streaming channel showing aircrafts attempting to land at one of the world’s busiest airports – London Heathrow. It is known to be one of the busiest airports in the world, and pre-covid (2019), the airport employed 76,000 people who managed over 80.88 Million passengers and 475,861 flight movements. That equates to an average of 221,589 passengers and 1,303 flights per day, or 154 passengers and 0.9 flights every 60 seconds.

Essential to the safety of every aircraft, employee, passengers and everyone in the surrounding areas, it requires Air Traffic Controllers to have consolidated sets of real-time data in order to drive immediate and informed decisions with absolute precision. Planes cannot be given instructions to take off without visibility and accurate, updated information of planes in the surrounding areas, variable altitudes, or coming in to land. Added to that, they need to refer to real-time information on weather conditions, wind speeds, and a whole lot more in order to safely orchestrate and execute such a vital role.

Real-time information also has to be fed to ground crew, luggage handlers and terminal staff to manage the logistics around passenger and cargo arrivals and departures. It is an intricate web of numerous moving parts that require precision, perfect timing, and leaves no room for error and miscommunication. This real-time data motion is what allows for streamlined processes that maximise efficiencies; and what enables them to successfully grow and manage such high volumes.

At Affectli, we eat, breathe and sleep our OPZ philosophy because data is ultimately the lifeblood of any organisation. If structured and used correctly, it will improve efficiencies across the board, and result in a more robust, profitable and successful business.

If you are looking to increase your OPZ and put your data into motion, feel free to reach out to us for a demo on get in touch.

The post The Poetry of Consolidated Data in Motion appeared first on Affectli.

Machine Learning

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 10:35:45 +0000

Rikus Combrinck teaches machines how to collect and process data like humans, but more efficiently. In 1982, growing up in Prieska, South Africa, he encountered a VIC-20 computer during a school outing to Kimberly. It had 5 kilobytes of memory, much less than required by a single desktop icon on current computers. It used a television for display and a tape drive for storage. As a young boy he loved disassembling things, exercising his analytical mind. After studying electronic engineering, Rikus’s postgraduate studies included AI and machine learning, which fascinated him.

After many years in software development he reconnected to his early interests and now practices as a data scientist, helping organisations analyse their data to detect patterns that can be used to solve business problems. Current projects include the accurate valuation of used vehicles for getWorth (getworth.co.za) and automating the marking of adult maturity assessments for Aephoria (aephoria.co.za). Data-centric organisations like these invest in AI because decision making based on accurate data clearly gives a competitive edge. Heads up programmers, the industry is growing rapidly as organisations realise that these valuable tools are becoming more accessible.

Machines are getting better at making decisions like humans, but still have a long way to go. For example, with the Aephoria’s maturity assessments, machines struggle to process subtle incongruences or ironic nuances in questionnaire responses. But the ability to process human language is rapidly developing. To help solve linguistic problems Rikus uses AI tools made freely available to the public by companies like OpenAI (founded by Elon Musk), Google and Facebook. The latest version of OpenAI’s Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT-3), an autoregressive language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text, has not been released for public use as it is deemed unsafe. The quality of the text it produces is frequently indistinguishable from human writing, posing risks that outweigh the benefits. In the wrong hands it could be used to impersonate users communicating online for criminal gain.

Rikus acknowledges the fear of computers replacing us in the workplace, along with its social and economic complexities. However, as a result of AI becoming more pervasive, products and services will become affordable to people who do not currently have access to them. This includes critical services like healthcare and education. So the shrinking job market may be offset by a decreased need to earn as much as we do now. This is a generalisation but the idea is that if all goes well, AI could actually serve us whilst tasks that require a personal touch will remain in our hands.

Rikus speaks of an online backlash against freebie-based advertising, adding that Google is in the process of eliminating third-party cookies in favour of less invasive ways to gather browsing statistics across large groups. People simply won’t stand for surreptitious and unsolicited marketing practices for much longer. Although lack of privacy is mainly a threat to those who have something to hide, there are also security issues at play. As time passes and technology matures our concerns will hopefully be better addressed. In Rikus’s opinion we are already cyborgs as information technology is seamlessly integral to our daily functioning.

For more thought pieces by Dimitri, please visit www.dimitriotis.com.

If you are looking for a trusted solution to help your organisation orchestrate and analyse your data, mitigate risks, increase productivity, improve efficiencies and increase your bottom line results, reach out to us by emailing get in touch and one of experts will get in touch to schedule a demo and discuss a tailor-made solution.

The post Machine Learning appeared first on Affectli.

Effective Resource Management

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 12:00:00 +0000

A multi-million dollar independent company that provides water that rates among the cleanest, safest and healthiest in the world, provides water and sanitation services to over 3 million people daily by way of nearly 11 000 kilometers of distribution pipes that delivers water to 33 water towers, 87 reservoirs and pump stations 24 hours a day.

Their reservoirs are measured and monitored by Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and historically, system operators and management would receive a stream of numbers and alerts when alarms were triggered. They would have to send out emergency shutdown notifications, down tools and manually open and close pumps to ensure that sufficient water was delivered to their customer base. The result is that they were reacting to daily crisis management, as opposed to service delivery through a more effective, planned, proactive and controlled approach to their business.

To ensure they would meet service delivery and best business practices while minimising downtime to providing uninterrupted services and improved customer satisfaction, they implemented Affectli to make them more efficient in monitoring and managing water levels in their most critical reservoir tanks.

The client´s IoT endpoints and assets were integrated into the Affectli platform to give them an overview of their business in real-time using GIS and geo-reporting tools. Within the Situational Awareness feature of Affectli, icons representing the client’s assets change colour when a fault occurs or an alarm is triggered, making it easier for them to identify and address problems as and when they arise.

When alarms are triggered, a ticket is generated for the relevant field operator. With Affectli supporting an agile environment, this feature also provides for contextual collaboration on all tasks, ensuring that the right people get the right information at the right time, as well as provides historical data and a full audit trail.

Having applied calculations to historical data received from signals and alarms, we were able to establish a predictive pattern of when a reservoir would be empty based on the rate of consumption. We then applied a rule to notify the client 3 hours ahead of time that the reservoir would be reaching critically low levels, providing them the tools for a proactive approach to avoid unnecessary service interruptions and emergency shutdowns.

The next step was to include a summary of all the water levels within the reservoirs. This was published every 2 hours to their mobile devices, giving them an accurate overview of water level readings of their reservoirs.

Before the implementation of Affectli, our client was reporting 5 to 6 low level alarms daily on their critical tanks, with the average level of those reservoirs being low, and marginally above empty. Within 8 days, this was reduced to only one low level alarm.

By implementing an effective Digital Transformation solution like Affectli that is agile and scalable, as well as device and system agnostic, it provides an organisation with smart technology and connected systems that are the very foundation for business efficiency.

The post Effective Resource Management appeared first on Affectli.

Meaningful Data: Lightning in a Bottle

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 12:00:00 +0000

Lightning in a bottle: “to succeed in a way that is very lucky or unlikely.” - Merriam-webster

In business, what if we didn’t have to rely on luck? What if we could be guaranteed to catch that elusive lightning in a bottle time after time, day after day, hour after hour? Would we?

The proverbial lightning in the corporate world is simple. It’s data. More specifically, it’s meaningful data that drives prediction. It’s what helps drive informed business decisions that ultimately reflect on the bottom line…

Most organisations rely on a number of disparate systems and multiple reporting tools to provide meaningful intelligence. Information will occasionally be captured incorrectly, response times to operational requirements can be slow, and reporting can be delayed. Then there’s the time it takes to filter through those disparate sets of information, follow audit trails to solve inefficiencies, and sift through different sets of data, looking for a needle in a haystack to pinpoint your “meaningful data” that will ultimately drive the company’s business objectives.

Data in motion and data that flows is imperative to any organisation, but even more so, is how that data is collated and assimilated – because therein lies both the magic and the solution.

The formula for catching that elusive lightning doesn’t have to rely on luck. It relies on the ability to ensure that the right people get the right information at the right time – every time – and the only way that that can be achieved, is through an effective digital transformation solution.

Whilst there are some impressive and effective digital transformation tools in the marketplace, they are limited in their functionality in that they only address a specific area/functionality within an organisation. More often than not, they don´t solve the problem of disparate information, and when combined, are not guaranteed to deliver meaningful data. Unable to find a single extendable solution in the marketplace to solve this mammoth, complex problem was where my passion project, AFFECTLI was born…

We have spent the past 15 years developing and honing an agile, scalable, and effective digital transformation solution that delivers that magic ingredient: Lightning in a bottle. And while we believed we are ahead of the curve in bringing this product to market, it became even more apparent that this unique solution has – and will become – a critical lifeline to organisations navigating their way through the global covid pandemic which has changed the way we look at systems both now and moving into the future.

Due to the complexities of the problem we were looking to solve, we had to take a number of considerations into account…

First off, we were mindful of the fact that companies were at various stages of their digital transformation process and had already started investing in software and technology, so we had to find a solution that didn’t involve throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Naturally, this opened the door to another key functionality: Parent-child relationships and custom permission settings to ensure controlled access to information. Taking this one step further, through the application of semantic ontological engines, we set out to design the platform to provide the same functionality that can be applied to everything within an organisation including tasks, people, assets, clients, vendors, tenants and more.

In addition to which, the solution also needed to be system, device and protocol agnostic. Besides the fact that we live in an era of technology that follows us everywhere – be it an executive commuting between meetings, an employee working from the office, or a technician working in a remote location – it had to be a user-friendly platform with the capability of adapting to the needs of each individual because strategic communication and contextual collaboration is another critical component to an organisation’s success.

What followed was the need to tackle the mammoth task of taking into account all the variables around the disparate systems that needed to come together to deliver the desired outcomes. This was the tricky part, because it needed a solution that was easily tailored to suit any environment, and it was of paramount importance that the solution was agile, scalable, and that it used a modern development framework.

Things that we needed to factor into the equation went something like this…

Factoring in all these variables while building our solution, coupled with our secret sauce of how we are able to collate and assimilate information succinctly – and in real time – is the lightning in the bottle that we are able to deliver!

By implementing an effective Digital Transformation solution like Affectli that is agile and scalable, as well as device and system agnostic, is what provides an organisation with smart technology and connected systems that are the very foundation for business efficiency.

The post Meaningful Data: Lightning in a Bottle appeared first on Affectli.

Covid Compliant Security & Asset Tracking

admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2020 12:00:00 +0000

A client within the Oil & Gas industry tasked us with implementing a tailor-made Affectli solution for a contactless security process aligned to COVID safety protocols, as well as a digitised process to track and trace the collection and delivery of fuel.

Their existing protocols to manage fuel collection was a process that involved a number of disparate systems including a series of emails, forms that needed to be completed by hand, manual driver verification checks, a lack of visibility once on the premises, as well as the inability to track vehicles in transit or monitor fuel dispensing at delivery points.

The end results are that there is a completely contactless security protocol in place to verify delivery vehicles, drivers and credentials, as well as the ability to effectively monitor and track end-to-end fuel collections and deliveries.

Our first point of call was to connect all hardware, IoT endpoints and systems to Affectli.

We then created profiles of the organisation – including their people and things (assets, customers, suppliers, vendors, etc), as well as applied parent-child relationships and classifications which enables the organisation to customise setting permissions and effectively control access to information.

The next phase of the solution was to digitise all of their processes using the built-in Affectli Designer tool to ensure that these processes could be started in order to disseminate tasks from the Designer APPS, so that the right people get the right information at the right time. Within the digitisation process, clients have the ability to create rules for triggered alarms that can be actioned automatically or manually.

Not only do the digitised processes keep a full history and audit trail, but through the Affectli Designer, our client now has the ability to expand functionality even further by building their own apps and designing custom processes and forms with a simple drag and drop methodology, allowing them to create and immediately implement business processes ranging from business management, problem management, preventative management and service delivery.

Visualisation of related data is possible through the Maps and Situational Awareness feature which allows the client to visually track their entities, assets and people in real-time within a single map interface using GIS and geo-reporting tools.

From the cutting edge Mi-Stream Integration engine that processes data feeds from thousands of sources and IoT Endpoints, Affectli has the ability to collate and assimilate that information, then trigger actions and alarms based on info generated through rules and AI, which is then pushed through to the Events Monitor that provides real-time data that can be filtered according to their preferred view or business objectives. By simply clicking on a record, the Mi-Stream provides a full contextual history relating to that particular task/incident including people, documentation, status, action taken, severity level, to name but a few, with the added ability to trigger a task and dispatch the right teams at the right time, thereby mitigating their exposure and risk.

The A-Box allows for contextual collaboration for a smart workspace solution, as well as provides timeline and calendar views to effectively manage workflow and projects. The Dashboard view for the user creates their optimum working space with personalised widgets and allows for efficient task and incident management.

With the Analytics feature, the client is able to generate an infinite amount of meaningful reports and graphs to analyse production, data and operations. Their reports have been customised to provide real-time information to ensure effective management within the organisation, with the added benefit of being able to toggle and filter displayed information specific to key outputs that can be pivoted and viewed hourly, daily and weekly.

Sunbursts represent and pivot data in real time, as well as provide layers of data that can be filtered by parameters. Trending graphs reflect real-time performance, and guide their Root Cause Analysis. To build their Annual Report, it’s as simple as a BI interface tool that allows you to drag and drop any graph or parameter to create the report.

The post Covid Compliant Security & Asset Tracking appeared first on Affectli.