Imagine playing a city-builder computer game that forecasts climate reality. You want to put a power station near the beach? Oh no — it will be flooded by sea level rise in 2050. Should I build train lines through the hills? Better not, by 2080 there will be regular wildfires. But there is no need for games: Sydney already models this based on serious science and big data.

 

Crossing boundaries and opening data

The platform created by the XDI Cross Dependency Initiative combines data sets with extensive climate models, to calculate the climate change and extreme weather risks that city assets will face. From pipes to train stations, the XDI Platform contains 100 different default asset types and is capable of integrating cross-dependencies between critical services such as power, water and communications into its analysis. But the platform is heavily data-dependent, which is where the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage comes into play. The State government department brought local government and State agencies and infrastructure providers together to pool funding for the project and to open their data up to XDI, despite some parties being competitors. Sydney Water and The City of Sydney are foundation partners, and the Northern Beaches Council has joined the project in 2018.

 

Invest right today to avoid future risks

XDI clarifies vague climate scenarios by creating business cases and cost analyses for the infrastructure decisions that are made today. In the wider Sydney area, extreme weather and climate change cause millions and millions of Australian dollars in damages across all sectors every year. The future is clear: If we do not act now, we stand to lose... a lot.