Increasing Public Works Capacity in Remote Communities through Operators’ Walkthrough Lab (OWL)
The Operators’ Walkthrough Lab (OWL) is a next-gen training platform designed to convey a real-world understanding of drinking water disinfection approaches for these communities, including system design and operation, as well as a fundamental understanding of the importance of clean water to community health and quality of life.
About Project
Enhancing public works training for rural communities on small water systems.THE PROBLEMThe risks of disruption to running water access increases with the remoteness of communities. Nearly 70% of rural water systems in Canada are categorized a medium to high risk of disruption (2016), potentially compromising access to over 500,000+ Canadians and especially impacting Indigenous communities. Part of this risk is the lack of qualified public works staff.HOW WE ARE SOLVING ITThis project will evolve the Community Circle’s (formerly RESEAU CMI) OWL (Operator’s Walkthrough Lab) platform into a suite of educational and training tools by leveraging conversational artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR) to enhance education to rural communities for better public works training on small water systems, operations and reducing water health risks. The platform will aim to enable public works educators and industry product support to both streamline education development and offer more immersive training delivery. Further, it will enable operators to find the right content at the right time in the moments that matter by utilizing AI support. Its delivery will address the need for training versatile public works talent in rural Indigenous communities, ultimately supporting their workforce development and economic participation. Training will additionally keep pace with emerging threats that impact risk such as climate change, emerging water contaminants and stressors.Sponsors:DIGITAL Government of Canada
