SOLA: Stream OLAP-based Analytical Framework for Roadway Maintenance

Maintaining infrastructures (e.g., roadway) is a critical issue for local governments. Data from physical devices and reports from citizens through social networks are helpful to observe conditions of infrastructures. This paper proposes a framework called SOLA for integrating and analysing data from multiple sources including streaming data and static data for roadway management. The framework integrates data from multiple sources in the way of stream OLAP architecture, and analyses the integrated data in terms of OLAP analysis. This paper applies the framework to support roadway managements of local governments, and develops the application called SOLAR. SOLAR aims at providing historical views of roadway patrols as well as roadway statuses for assisting in determining roadway patrolling schedules. The real-world use case on a city exhibits the applicability of SOLAR with positive feedbacks from city officers. SOLA is a promising framework for big data analysis and smart city applications, as the number, amount, and speed of generating data increase in the era of big data and smart city.