Riyadh Municipality Integrates Robots, Smart Technologies into Stormwater Drainage Network Maintenance

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
TT

Riyadh Municipality Integrates Robots, Smart Technologies into Stormwater Drainage Network Maintenance

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

The Riyadh Municipality has announced the introduction of specialized robots and smart technologies into its regular operations for inspecting stormwater drainage networks and their components for proactive maintenance.

The robots can navigate through water and various surfaces, measure and analyze the networks, contributing to swift and effective decision-making.

The robots operate by capturing three-dimensional, 360-degree images of the networks and converting the results into data through artificial intelligence (AI). This maximizes the use of technology to expedite the municipality's tasks, ensure the readiness of stormwater drainage networks, and develop proactive maintenance plans.

The Riyadh Municipality continues to oversee regular, preventive, and scheduled maintenance of all components of the stormwater drainage networks in Riyadh. This aims to ensure the safety and readiness of the networks’ components and addresses network malfunctions and surrounding issues using modern technologies that help identify and resolve problems.

These efforts are part of the municipality's ongoing commitment to providing quality services to residents and maintaining public safety, aligning with its strategy to promote digital transformation and support urban growth.



Global Tech Outage to Cost Air France KLM Close to $11 mln

Air France planes are parked on the tarmac at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, in Roissy, near Paris, Saturday, April 7, 2018. Some 30 percent of Air France flights were cancelled Saturday as strikes over pay rises appear to be intensifying. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Air France planes are parked on the tarmac at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, in Roissy, near Paris, Saturday, April 7, 2018. Some 30 percent of Air France flights were cancelled Saturday as strikes over pay rises appear to be intensifying. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
TT

Global Tech Outage to Cost Air France KLM Close to $11 mln

Air France planes are parked on the tarmac at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, in Roissy, near Paris, Saturday, April 7, 2018. Some 30 percent of Air France flights were cancelled Saturday as strikes over pay rises appear to be intensifying. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Air France planes are parked on the tarmac at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, in Roissy, near Paris, Saturday, April 7, 2018. Some 30 percent of Air France flights were cancelled Saturday as strikes over pay rises appear to be intensifying. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Air France KLM faces a hit of about 10 million euros ($10.85 million) from last week's global technology outage, finance chief Steven Zaat said on Thursday.

The group is one of the first airlines to disclose a cost linked to the disruption, Reuters reported.

"The expectation is that it will cost us around 10 million (euros)," Zaad said in a press call, adding that KLM and Transavia bore the brunt of the disruptions while Air France was not seriously affected.

A software update by global cybersecurity company CrowdStrike triggered systems problems that grounded flights, forced broadcasters off air and left customers without access to services such as healthcare or banking last Friday.

Delta Air Lines has been the slowest among major US carriers to recover from the outage. The carrier has cancelled more than 6,000 flights since Friday and analysts estimate the hit to its bottom line could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. ($1 = 0.9213 euros)