SMART WATERSHEDS: innovative technologies for monitoring the water security of the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí River Basins in the State of São Paulo

• Grant number: 23/10091-5
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research in Public Policies
• Duration: February 01, 2024 - January 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Orandi Mina Falsarella
• Grantee: Orandi Mina Falsarella
• Host Institution: Escola de Economia e Negócios (EEN). Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUC-CAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Bruna Angela Branchi ; Cibele Roberta Sugahara ; Cristiano Capellani Quaresma ; Denise Helena Lombardo Ferreira ; Diego de Melo Conti ; Duarcides Ferreira Mariosa ; Tadeu Fabricio Malheiros ; Vinicius Perez Dictoro
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/15764-0 - Survey and specification of Information and Communication Technologies - ICT with potential contribution to monitoring of water security, BP.TT; 24/13012-1 - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions for monitoring water security: analysis by a panel of experts, BP.MS; 24/13020-4 - THE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES - ICT FOR THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, BP.MS; 24/03986-9 - Panel of experts to identify Information and Communication Technologies -ICT with potential to contribute to the water security monitoring, BP.TT

Abstract

The public management process involved in this project is the Plan for the Watersheds of the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí Rivers (PBH-PCJ) period 2020-2035, characterized as a public policy in execution. Its target audience is the population of the Water Resources Management Unit 5 (UGRHI-5), corresponding to the São Paulo portion of the PCJ Basins, which covers 58 municipalities, an approximate population of 5 million inhabitants and an area of 14,216.58 km2. To improve the management process, it is essential to use hydrological monitoring tools to support decision-making. Thus, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to help capture data in the territorial space of watersheds, calculate indicators and analyze information related to water security is very promising. This project intends to insert innovative ICT (IoT, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, BI, Machine Vision, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, among others) to improve the sustainable management of water resources in the context of water security, providing new elements for the process of review of the PBH-PCJ that should take place in 2026. However, there are some gaps such as the need to identify the state of the art of ICT, existing indicators for monitoring water security and methodological procedures for data collection and analysis. To supply them, this project is proposed with the predominant characteristic of scientific contribution, fast science and scientific synthesis, as it seeks to organize scientific knowledge related to the management of water resources. In this way, the general objective of this proposal is to make the PCJ Basins intelligent, improving the efficiency of water resources management by using innovative ICTs that help in the monitoring of water security. Study data, of a qualitative nature, will be obtained by applying the technique of systematic review of academic literature, documentary research in the technical literature and in the patent database, with the purpose of carrying out a diagnosis and inventory of technologies and indicators that are being used in the context of water security. Subsequently, for the evaluation of the technological solutions found, the DELPHI technique will be used for the construction and application of the Panel of Experts with the creation of a script of semi-structured interviews that will be carried out with specialists who work in the area of water resources management, with the aim of purpose of consensually validating the indicators and innovative technologies found and those that are already being used. Then, with the participation of the Partner Institution, Associate and Collaborators, the indicators and innovative ICTs will be chosen that will be part of the experimental project, whose implementation will occur according to joint deliberation. The results achieved will be presented in a workshop and later technical training will be offered to project participants and other public managers. The scientific dissemination of the results will take place through the publication of articles, books, book chapters and presentation at scientific events, in addition to research guidance at the Host Institution. The risks involve the possibility of not finding in the scientific literature a significant collection of innovative technologies, the low adherence of specialists in carrying out the interviews, the identification of ICT with demands or operational requirements that cannot be ensured in the long term, the need for approval for using the results in the review of the PCJ Basins Plan and the unavailability of financial resources to perpetuate the proposed actions, as well as the lack of standardization or inaccessibility of data in the respective sources. (AU)