For several years, the municipality of Useldange has been taking on more digital transformation projects. For example, by connecting its citizens’ water meters, it now has the capacity to detect leaks. In this way, residents can avoid any nasty surprises and it is helping to preserve this valuable resource. Beyond that, the municipality views digitisation as a lever for improving its performance in a way that serves citizens.
Digital technology is a tremendous driving force for improving the lives of the population. From as early as 2017, the municipality of Useldange understood that it could save money, better manage its resources and serve its residents more effectively by making good use of technology. “At the time, we needed to overhaul the municipality’s IT infrastructure. With this in mind, we reviewed the state of the situation in order to consider how best to transform it,” explained Pierre Da Silva, deputy mayor at that time. “From there, the college of aldermen and the municipal council made the decision to bring the local authority into the digital age through the launch of the Useldange 4.0 project.”
Since then, the municipality has taken on numerous projects with the aim of using technology to serve its residents.
Connecting water meters
One of the first projects was to set up a “Smart Water” system. The municipality decided to install domestic smart water meters on its citizens’ properties to enable usage to be managed and monitored. “We are pursuing a number of goals,” added Pierre Da Silva. “The first is to reduce waste and save water, which is such a vital resource. Each meter is connected via the Sigfox network to our Gescom system (SIGI) and transmits our citizens’ usage in real time. We can then detect whether someone has a leak and inform them. We have now reached the stage where we can identify if a tap is dripping. When our residents go on holiday, they have the option to request that the municipality carries out monitoring to prevent possible water damage, for example, in the event of a problem.”
Although this project, which connects 700 households, represented a significant investment of around EUR 400,000, this amount was spread over three years. The returns on investment were immediate. “Previously, we had to delegate officers to read water meters. This is now a thing of the past and staff from the municipality can be assigned to other tasks,” explained Pierre Da Silva. “In addition, this project has made it possible to reduce resource consumption and cut spending, and it is actually now possible to pin down locations of water loss.”
An overhauled IT environment
This project was made possible by overhauling the municipality’s IT system. The objective was, in particular, to centralise the IT systems in order to facilitate the management of the services offered. Moreover, the new environment makes it easier to consider additional services. “It was the POST teams, selected as part of a public contract, who supported us in the implementation of this project,” Da Silva continued. “We were able to draw on all their expertise as an operator, to both support the transformation of our system environment and interconnect all the elements, via optical fibre. All of our IT, its systems and its networks now rely on Connected Office and everything is made secure by the FORTINET solution. We are able to monitor the entire environment to detect and effectively respond to any security breaches.”
Simplified management
Useldange’s digital transformation didn’t just stop at the Smart Water project. The municipality also wanted to improve communication with its community and tourists. Centrally managed smart display panels have been rolled out across the municipality to enable details of bus timetables, council deliberations, local association events and other useful information to be made more accessible to residents. Digital technology has also made it easier for various users, such as associations and sports clubs, to access municipal infrastructure. An analysis is being carried out to study the feasibility of a system to alert users to available parking spaces.
The support of a single partner
“With POST, we can access a wide range of expertise through a single partner. POST supports us with all issues, from the implementation and management of the IT infrastructure to the deployment of IoT solutions including the security of our environment,” commented Pierre Da Silva. “We are very proud to have shown that a small municipality like ours has been able to carry out such projects. We hope that we have inspired and paved the way for other municipalities to follow suit.”
The Smart Water project, in particular, has been implemented in other municipalities. In collaboration with SIGI, Useldange also aims to develop a platform that will allow citizens to monitor their own usage in real time. The should allow everyone to reflect on how they can reduce their water usage.
