Everyone’s heard the story about the government’s promise to spend $1 trillion on fixing America’s aging critical infrastructure. But there’s another big money story that few investors know of.
Trump’s trillion-dollar pledge won’t come close to fixing our infrastructure. It’ll take $3.6 trillion to make this happen. And in the midst of this infrastructure crisis, one little-known company has launched an artificial intelligence coup that could save us billions. Included in today’s commentary: TransCanada Corporation (NYSE: TRP), Blackberry Ltd. (NYSE: BB), Celestica Inc. (NYSE: CLS), Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT), Methode Electronics Inc (NYSE: MEI).
Consider the dire straits of a massive network of critical infrastructure that industries, the environment and human lives all count on, every minute of every day:
U.S. dams are failing from coast to coast: 15,500 of our 90,500 dams now a high-hazard potential for public safety and the economy and it will take $60 billion to fix them.
180,000 people were recently evacuated in California because of fears that the largest dam in the U.S. would collapse.
Pipelines have caused almost 9,000 significant accidents in only 30 years, hitting us with $8.5 billion in damages, killing hundreds and injuring thousands.
The U.S. spends almost $3 billion every year just cleaning up spills in our waterways.
The over 140 oil refineries in the U.S. are potential disasters waiting to happen, with more than 500 accidents since 1994, and explosions killing and threatening millions with fatal toxins.
A huge amount of money has been spent on remote sensing equipment to monitor 2.5 million miles of pipeline, over 90,000 dams, and 7.2 million miles of electric power lines. The amount of data collected isn’t just big, it’s incomprehensible.
One little-known company has stepped in to turn critical infrastructure big data on its head.
The company is Carl Data Solutions (CRL; CDTAF), and its proprietary new Internet remote monitoring technology could be the difference between a 7-day advance warning of a major disaster and a billion-dollar catastrophe.
In a remote monitoring market that will be worth over $27 billion by 2023, Carl Data is leading the next phase of the revolution. By 2020, more than 50 billion devices will be connected to this network, and Carl Data plans to turn the massive amounts of data they collect into an actionable and profitable-early-warning system.
Here are 5 reasons to keep a close eye on Carl Data Solutions (CRL; CDTAF)
#1 Protecting a $153-Billion Market
The critical infrastructure protection market should be worth over $153 billion by 2022. And the remote sensing services market, which makes much of the data-collection possible, is expected to more than double from $10.68 billion this year to $21.62 billion in just three years.
Not only is Carl Data positioning itself to disrupt these two huge markets, but it’s also throwing a lifeline to multi-billion-dollar industry verticals:
The oil pipeline industry brings in $11 billion in revenue
Water supply and irrigation systems in the US generate $77 billion in revenue
US gas pipeline transportation boasts $24 billion in revenue
The electric power transmission system in the US brings in a whopping $380 billion in revenue.
The pipeline monitoring systems market alone is expected to double from US$4.13 billion in 2015 to US$8.72 billion in 2026. And this is just one market segment within the overall critical infrastructure monitoring sector.
From Toronto to LA and Dallas; and from municipalities, engineering firms and massive infrastructure operators at every vertical, Carl Data has the potential of turning the big data industry upside down.
Carl Data’s AI system can predict events that may lead to critical infrastructure failures up to seven days into the future.
It can use AI to compare past storm events to weather predictions to forecast whether a future storm might cause a major incident at one of America’s many aging and high-hazard potential dams-before they fail.
#2 Taking North America by Cloud
For major cities with aging infrastructure, it’s not enough to have a bunch of sensors collecting data. You have to know what the data is telling you, and in order to do that, you have to have ultra sophisticated analytics capabilities.
That’s exactly what Carl Data (CRL; CDTAF) is doing for a host of North American cities where critical infrastructure is crippled by age. And its client list is big and getting bigger.
This is a massive data platform that is built to service absolutely any and every industry vertical.
For oil and gas stream crossings, and major pipeline operators like Kinder Morgan, Enbridge, Husky and Trans Canada, Carl Data would be essential as it uses flow and stability sensors to monitor where the pipeline crosses the stream in real-time, alerting engineers via cell phone immediately if thresholds are threatening breach. For Kinder Morgan’s 1,300 LNG stream crossings in British Columbia alone, monitoring is critical.
#3 American Critical Infrastructure is Dangerously Failing
More cities, and more industries should be lining up soon because this predictive data solution comes at a desperate time for American infrastructure, which earns a woeful D+ on its report card.
The country’s more than 90,000 dams represent a major threat to public safety and the economy, with nearly 15,500 already considered high-hazard potential in 2016.
And that’s just one part of our massive critical infrastructure.
From the Deepwater Horizon immolation that killed 11 workers and released 5 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico to the Anacortes Tesoro oil refinery explosion and the collapse of West Virginia coal mine that killed 29 miners, public safety has been comprised.
And that was only in 2010-and all in a single month, April.
Bigger and better monitoring measures are critical, and Carl Data Solutions not only uses the latest in artificial intelligence to alert critical infrastructure operators to impending disasters, but it is predictive-enabling a response before situations become life-threatening.
For America’s bursting dams, having a 7-day lead time on a pending disaster might be the difference between life and death, and could save operators tens of millions in catastrophic clean-up fees, lawsuits and damage control.
#4 Multiple-Billion $ Industries Can Avoid Massive Liability
One of the biggest selling points for Carl Data (CRL; CDTAF) is the huge savings its predictive solutions could mean for some of our biggest industries.
A major dam failure can cost on average over $700 million in damages and close to $2 billion for clean-up.
Penn West reported 93 pipeline failures in 2013 and 112 pipeline failures in 2012. One of those failures cost it $4.3 million.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill will cost an estimated $61.6 billion once all lawsuits are over.
The 1989 Exxon Valdez spill cost $3.8 billion-so far (and counting)
The 2015 El Capitan State Beach Spill in California cost $62 million.
And those are just the biggest spills.
Insurance companies have risk management consultants on the prowl for tools like Carl Data’s patented system to help manage risk because they insure resource development projects, and want to prevent paying out on insurance claims.
That’s why Carl Data’s revenue could be poised for a major boost.
With the potential to tap into most industries that collect data, Carl Data already has a strong pipeline for this year, and increased revenues by over 30% from 2016 to 2017.
#5 Big Data Visionaries, Big Business Brains
While everyone was blindsided by the remote sensing bonanza, Carl Data CEO Greg Johnston was looking into the future. What to actually do with all that data to make it work for us. He had a big idea that he’s since turned into a small-cap company with a very large-cap potential.
The real gold mine is the data, not the sensors. And in Johnston’s words: “We’re turning the industry on its head”.
Johnston’s idea was hard-hitting and unique. He set out to create a system that can work with any hardware vendor, giving Carl Data a rare advantage. Once it’s set up, it spoon-feeds critical data to clients-filtered and relevant and in time to fix problems and avert disaster.
Carl Data is about Greg Johnston’s vision, and the high-tech team he put together to disrupt the future.
Johnston is the former director of ecommerce marketing for Global Hyatt Corporation, where he increased online revenue by 34 percent.
CTO Piotr Stepinski is a high-level software engineer with a major track record in Kainos, Atena and Telzas and he is the tech architect for Carl Data.
Director Chris Johnston, a professional engineer, is the co-founder of Flowworks.
VP of Business Development Kevin Marsh led the industry’s first successful efforts to commercialize an IoT-based Data-as-a-Service solution, overseeing its rapid market adoption.
Director Craig Tennock is a veteran civil and structural engineer who was awarded the Order of Merit by Industry Canada for designing and implementing a new way to measure open channel flow with greater accuracy.
The expert management team and board has major successes behind the in launching award-winning data solutions, start-up ventures and Fortune 500 consumer programs. And they are heavily invested in Carl Data, with over 80 percent insider ownership.
And the momentum is building as fast as data collection. Even more companies and governments have lined up for this proprietary technology over the past few weeks.
Even better: Carl Data recently announced that its revenue could double next year.
The rapid news flow and the critical timing could make this a prime target for acquisition, and investors who already have Carl Data on their radar will have noticed GE’s recent $207.5-million acquisition of a similar company.
Big Data is Big Money.
Actionable Data is even Bigger Money.
With technology that could save infrastructure companies billions in clean-up costs, even more in liability, and keep reputations intact, Carl Data (CRL: CDTAF) is poised for leadership in the critical infrastructure cloud.
