50 participants from various African missions have convened at the Regional Service Centre Entebbe (RSCE) for a workshop on Unite Field Remote Infrastructure Monitoring (Unite FRIM) organized by the Global Service Center (GSC), hosted by the RSCE from 25^th to 29^th November.

This is the second time ever that a workshop has been organized that has brought together personnel from Engineering, Technology and Environment together in one room. The first was the Unite FRIM Workshop hosted by UNFICYP in October, which was targeted to missions and offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Unite FRIM is an innovative operational oversight platform that allows users to measure, collect, monitor, and report data from a wide range of diverse devices. It is a centralized solution that leverages the data infrastructure across the organization for Intelligent Infrastructure Management.

The initial concept of Unite FRIM (“Foundation”) is to join different interfaces from resources such as Generators, UPS, Water Main, and Wastewater Treatments to provide information to the main server which then collects, analyzes and displays gathered information via a web interface. The interface connects from the Unite FRIM server via Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) that terminate to the devices, enabling these units to be "smart", where peak usage, possible outages and utilization are monitored remotely.

Missions can proactively monitor usage and measure utilization and the potential risks of outage, and in turn reduce power and water consumption thus saving on time and resources. Technicians can better respond to equipment issues, and personnel can better understand how they contribute to a greener community.

Through programme governance and change management, a phased deployment of Unite FRIM enhancements is part of the Unite FRIM Road Map.

The workshop was opened by the Chief RSCE, Mr. Paulin Djomo who welcomed the participants and emphasized the importance of the workshop and how Unite FRIM is a necessary tool for asset management especially for missions that operate in hazardous areas.  Mr. Michel Bergeron (Chief, Service for Geospatial, Information and Telecommunications Technologies) introduced Unite FRIM – which is an Internet of Things (IoT) platform that collects a large volume of data from infrastructure equipment and physical devices with embedded sensors that communicate status, operation, location, and environment parameters. Mr. Robert Kirkwood – CMS UNISFA, provided his experience in implementing Unite FRIM in the mission area and its benefits.

The morning session focused mainly on the various strategies for Unite FRIM in the missions and in the afternoon, participants were led through the vision and framework for Unite FRIM via VTC.

The week-long workshop will conclude on 29^th November 2019, which marks the beginning of Unite FRIM in Africa