Integration of municipal infrastructure asset management processes: Challenges and solutions

Municipal infrastructure management decision making is inherently an integrated process that requires the assimilation of a multitude of data, processes, and software systems. Current work practices have resulted in significant process and data fragmentation, which have subsequently created much inefficiency that impedes the implementation of effective management strategies. There is a broad consensus in the industry that adopting integrated multidisciplinary approaches is a key requirement for implementing efficient, sustainable, and proactive asset management programs. This paper discusses the main challenges for implementing integrated municipal infrastructure management environments, and proposes specific solutions to address these challenges. The proposed solutions address the systematization and coordination of work processes, the development of centralized shared data repositories based on nonproprietary integrated data models, and the organization and integration of distributed software tools into a modular and extensible enterprise-wide software environment. The implementation of a prototype sewer management environment based on the proposed solutions is also presented.