Maria Kanyama

SGSP CANDIDATES PROFILING Q&A

17. You were chosen as a beneficiary of this scholarship, out of several applicants across the SADC region. How does this make you feel?

1. It is a privilege to be selected among many other deserving applicants across the SADC region to be part of this unique doctorate programme at NUST. My appreciation goes to SASSCAL for making this scholarship possible.  I am truly thankful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which will allow me to grow as an individual and be part of a team that is ready to make an impact worldwide when it comes to research, innovation, and creativity. I am humbled and ready to take up space in the IWRM community.

17. What motivated you to take up studies in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)?

1. During my bachelor’s degree years at NUST I developed an interest in securing data/information across networks from different attacks. Coming from an Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering field, I was not too sure what type of network I could work with although I had a lot of ideas. It was then during my Master’s degree studies, that my supervisor and mentor Dr. C. N Nyirenda introduced me to water networks and my passion grew. It made me want to make an impact on the water network community and witness the realization of the smart city paradigm.

17. Tell us about your specific research area/interests.

1. I am passionate about anomaly detection models/architectures, data/information security, data aggregation, as well as smart water metering networks, customer behavior/patterns.

17. What do you see as some of the greatest challenges being experienced in the IWRM sector, particularly in your home country?

1. One of the greatest challenges faced in Namibia is the fact that we still use traditional water meters to measure consumption at consumers' premises and the fact that meter readings are recorded manually. The water sector's digital transformation continues to lag behind because consumers and technicians are still acting as sensors and offering insights when it comes to leakages, illegal connections, meter malfunctions, tampering, and so forth.

As the world continues to move towards the 4^th Industrial Revolution, it relies heavily on the Internet of things (IoT) and smart sensors. Smart water metering networks are deployed toward the smart city paradigm realization. To ensure that these networks are secure and monitored, there is a need to develop an anomaly detection security model that ensures customers do not tamper with meter readings or do not make illegal connections, amongst others. Detection of anomalies in water networks is a stepping stone towards sustainability and management concepts.

17. When it is all done and dusted, what would you like the impact of your research project to be?

1. Anomaly detection and security in water metering networks are relatively new and there is limited literature review in this area, despite their importance. This research is a creation of new knowledge that will be useful to the research community, and beyond. It aims to trigger more research activities on how to secure and detect anomalies in water networks.