Oral Presentation IPWEA International Public Works Conference 2025

Developing Fit for Purpose Asset Information Strategy – Case Study on GMB Water (121890)

Ali AA Ahmadi 1 , Renuke RR Ranaweera 2
  1. Mount Barker District Council, Bowden, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Australia
  2. Brightly, Melbourne

Accurate, timely and fit for purpose asset information is crucial to any asset intensive organisation to deliver the services to stakeholders in the most efficient and reliable manner. Asset Information is used by many functional areas of an organisation for day-to-day operations and maintenance, strategic planning, financial planning, and reporting. Many organisations  are challenged by  volume and formats of data generated from asset planning to disposals, cost of collecting data, identifying, and storing only the useful information, functionalities and limitations of Asset information Management systems (AMIS), siloed approach of different departments, and keeping information current. Having a clear asset information  and knowledge  management strategy helps organisations to overcome the above challenges and build confidence among internal and external stakeholders that any operational and maintenance activities and strategic decisions mad are based on best available information.

GMB Water, a subsidiary of Mount Barker District Council (MBDC) owns and operates the largest council-run wastewater and second largest recycled water scheme in South Australia and comprise wastewater collection, wastewater treatment, bore water supply, and recycled water treatment and distribution, the wastewater schemes.

GBM water partnered with Brightly to develop an Asset Information strategy (AIS) that fits for the organisation. The process involved several workshops with key stakeholders and focused on three key areas;

  • Asset Information standard - a structured framework that defines the specific data requirements and formats needed for managing information related to assets throughout their lifecycle to ensure consistency, clarity, and interoperability in asset data.
  • Asset Hierarchy - categorises and breaks down assets into levels of detail, helps in managing, tracking, and analysing assets more efficiently by providing clear visibility into the relationships and dependencies between different assets.
  • Asset Information Management – define how Asset data management in AMIS correspond with the asset life-cycle activities