CGI worked with CRIM to design the “Intelligent Decision Support System for Storms” module to optimize the restoration of power grids in the event of major outages.
Overview
The famous “business traveller problem” is commonly referred to as the type of work in logistics or operational management that aims to optimize journeys to cover a predefined set of geographical points. Such problems occur, for example, during severe interruptions to power supply networks such as those caused by ice storm crises in Québec or hurricanes in the United States
Project
In 2013, CGI and CRIM have been working together to design the Intelligent Decision Support System for Storms module as part of the large-scale mobilizing project Equation (ÉcoloTIC), which aims to develop and showcase new products from the IT industry that will reduce CO² emissions, promote the reduction of energy consumption and enable the development of alternative systems with a positive impact on the environment.
The goal of this partnership was to develop an innovative module for restoring power grids in the event of major outages, such as the one caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York in 2012. This module is now integrated into CGI’s PragmaSMART solution, which is designed to manage and ensure the operation of power distribution networks and the workforce assigned to them, in order to improve real-time workforce management.
CRIM has leveraged its expertise in operations research, software architecture and development, agile methodology and big data to develop, with its partner, a solution that meets the needs of electrical distribution companies in a commercial context.
This project is particularly innovative thanks to its ability to handle very large problems, as well as its clever and efficient implementation of operational research algorithms.
Benefits
CRIM developed the technology and contributed to its pre-commercialization. The advantage offered by CRIM to the company lies in the access it gave CGI to specialised resources in mathematics and algorithm creation that it did not have at its disposal, since its business expertise is above all operational. The module has been integrated into CGI’s software and is available for sale to electricity distribution companies. The project with CRIM enabled CGI to regain its leadership position in the United States and break into the European market.
