Water is at the heart of ALL development challenges in Pakistan

Dr. Abubakr Muhammad, Director, Center for Water Informatics & Technology (WIT), Lahore University of Management Sciences conducted a graduate seminar on Graduate Seminar on Smart Water Grids: Managing Complexity via Ubiquitous Sensing and Modeling Abstractions held at USPCAS-W Auditorium on Friday, February 23, 2018.

Dr. Abubakr while speaking in the seminar said that Water is at the heart of ALL development challenges in Pakistan. He was of the view that people by using this technology can overcome the challenges faced by today in the water sector in Pakistan. He said that by using artificial intelligence, robotics and other related application of computers, the demand-driven water system can be formed and implemented. While emphasizing on the Imagineering, he said that through Imagineering the sustainable solutions to the prevailing water crisis can be sought out.

In defining the contextual importance of using smart water grid technology, he said that the managing irrigation networks in the Indus river basin inspire interesting problems with an important and unique socio-economic context for Pakistan. He elaborates that river basins, when equipped with smart infrastructures, are complex cyber-physical-social systems with a unique set of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) problems and the Internet of Things (IoT) inspired solutions.

While concluding the seminar, he said that that socio-hydrology cross-pollinated by water informatics tools allows us to imagine new ways to manage water in the 21st century.

By giving presentations, he also shared various diagrams including the Water Policy Social Network, Farmer Social Network, Social Comparison Processes, Real-Time Flow Monitoring and other related. He also shared the documentary which showed how these smart grids are working efficiently.

Defining the smart water grids in an interview conducted by Prof. Dr. Abdul Latif Qureshi in USPCAS-W Studio, he said that this is Information Communication Technology (ICT) based technology for monitoring the different aspects of water including water quantity and quality.

He said through this technology the water-related information can be easily disseminated timely and properly, among the end users- farmer.

Answering the questions, Dr. Abubakr said this technology is very much economical now and can be used for all levels of canals either the smaller watercourses or bigger canals. He further elaborated that event the water at the roots of plants can be easily monitored through this system by adding more technology like drones. He informed that this technology is being used by the irrigation department of Punjab while in collaboration with this MUET Water Center, it can be replicated in Sindh in support of SIDA and Sindh Irrigation Department.

At the beginning of the seminar, Dr. Bakhshal Lashari, Project Director USPCAS-W MUET welcomed the participants and introduced the speaker. At the end of the Seminar, Dr. Lashari presented the souvenirs to Dr. Abubakr Muhammad, the speaker of the seminar.