PredAIoT: Improving Economic Decision-Making for Energy Assets Using Open Data to Enhance Market Efficiency and Support Oman Vision 2040 PredAIoT provides an innovative AI-based solution that transforms open data in Oman’s energy sector into real-time economic decisions. The goal is to maximize operational efficiency and reduce financial losses. In 2024, total government support for Oman’s electricity sector reached 602.3 million Omani rials, highlighting the Economic Decision Gap, which results in large, often hidden, financial losses. Our technology focuses on closing the gap between the engineering performance of energy assets and their actual economic performance, helping operators unlock “identified funds” and reducing pressure on the national public budget.

Types of Open Data Used PredAIoT primarily relies on data published by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and the Public Services Regulatory Authority (APSR), including:

Total electricity complaints received from electricity customers: These data provide insights into operational weaknesses and service quality, enabling PredAIoT to identify areas that need improvement in maintenance and operations to reduce outages and related processing costs. Electricity service connection requests: This helps understand demand growth and its geographic distribution, supporting better grid planning and load distribution. Total connected electricity bills for electricity sector customers: These data provide indicators of consumption and consumption patterns, helping to forecast demand and improve energy management. Meter readings for electricity customers: These enable analysis of the real performance of assets and detection of deviations from expected performance, allowing PredAIoT to deliver optimal economic interventions. Total capacity of renewable energy power plants: This provides critical information about renewable assets, helping PredAIoT operate them and integrate them into the grid with economic efficiency. In addition, PredAIoT can benefit from any other relevant energy and minerals data published by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, such as generation, consumption, or fuel prices, to enhance the accuracy of its economic models.

Added Value of PredAIoT By analyzing these open datasets, PredAIoT does the following:

Identifies economic loss: Calculates real-time financial losses caused by asset degradation or suboptimal operational decisions. Improves predictive maintenance: Applies the Economic Optimization of Maintenance methodology, where a maintenance decision is made only when the accumulated economic loss exceeds the cost of intervention—ensuring that every maintenance action is a profitable decision. Maximizes return on investment (ROI): Converts engineering efficiency into tangible financial gains. Our analyses show that energy assets can achieve 862,903 Omani rials in additional annual revenue per 500 MW asset (e.g., a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)) without any new capital expenditure on equipment, representing a profitability increase ranging from 9.1% to 15%. Conclusion PredAIoT is a clear example of how open data can be transformed into tangible economic and strategic value. It supports the goals of Oman Vision 2040 by driving digital transformation and improving the efficiency of vital sectors.

(Additional Use Case / Economic Blindness) PredAIoT also presents an innovative solution that addresses the “Economic Blindness” challenge in managing energy assets and industry. It does so by leveraging open data available through Oman’s Open Data Portal, alongside asset operational data. This use case demonstrates how AI and machine learning can convert raw data into improved economic decisions, leading to the recovery of “lost funds” and enhanced operational efficiency.

The problem being addressed Even though assets often have high engineering efficiency (such as power generation plants), operational decisions (e.g., when to run, shut down, store, or curtail production) are frequently made based on fixed schedules or inaccurate estimations of the immediate economic value. This results in significant economic losses that are often invisible. We call these losses economic blindness. These losses worsen in Oman’s energy market, where prices fluctuate and demand is growing rapidly, as reflected in reports from the APSR and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals.

How PredAIoT uses open data Our methodology integrates and analyzes key data sets from official open sources, including:

Oman electricity market data: such as the System Marginal Price (SMP) and scarcity prices, published in annual reports (e.g., the average SMP for 2024 was 9.120 Omani rials/MWh, and the average scarcity price was 4.022 Omani rials). Electricity demand data: to identify consumption patterns and peak forecasts. Weather data: to forecast renewable generation and its impact on the grid. Innovative solution and methodology PredAIoT develops an Economic Decision Intelligence layer that works on top of existing control systems (SCADA). This layer:

Continuously calculates economic loss: It estimates the real-time loss of value (e.g., revenue losses or additional operating costs) caused by any degradation in asset performance. It is computed based on the difference between expected vs. actual performance while considering spot market prices from open data. Economic optimization for predictive maintenance: It compares accumulated economic loss with the cost of maintenance. Maintenance orders are issued only when accumulated economic loss reaches (or exceeds) the intervention cost. This ensures each maintenance action is economically profitable. Converts data into “unlocked funds”: Helps operators increase revenues by 9% to 15% and improve operational efficiency by up to 30% (based on analytics and the IEA discussions on demand flexibility), without the need for new capital investments in equipment. In 2024, total government support for Oman’s electricity sector amounted to 602.3 million Omani rials, highlighting the Economic Decision Gap that leads to significant financial losses. Our technology focuses on closing the gap between the engineering performance of assets and the actual economic performance, contributing to the recovery of “unlocked funds” for operators and reducing the burden on the state’s public budget.

Added value for Oman and Vision 2040 Enhancing economic efficiency: Helping close the energy-sector support gap by improving asset management and maximizing the economic value of every unit of energy. Supporting the energy transition: Enabling higher integration of renewable energy through better grid flexibility and efficient demand management. Local innovation: Showcasing Omani capabilities in building advanced technology solutions that leverage open data to support sustainable economic development. Transparency and data-driven decision-making: Providing data-driven insights to asset operators and policymakers, improving transparency and efficiency in the sector. Conclusion (Final) PredAIoT is a real example of how open data can become a driver of economic growth and innovation, supporting the goals of Oman Vision 2040 in building a diversified, sustainable economy based on innovation.

Sources Public Services Regulatory Authority (APSR) — Economic cost and collected revenues from electricity customers and financial statistics on government support to the electricity sector (million Omani rials). Public Services Regulatory Authority (APSR) — Total capacity of renewable energy power plants (technical data on solar/wind power plants, including capacity and technology). Ministry of Energy and Minerals — Electricity and renewable energy data (statistical data on electricity generation and renewable energy sources in the Sultanate of Oman). Public Services Regulatory Authority (APSR) — Total electricity complaints received from electricity customers (statistics on customer complaints that provide insights into operational weaknesses). Public Services Regulatory Authority (APSR) — Electricity service connection requests (statistics that show connection-response efficiency). Public Services Regulatory Authority (APSR) — Total connected electricity bills for electricity sector customers (statistics reflecting billing operation efficiency). Public Services Regulatory Authority (APSR) — Meter readings for electricity customers (statistics on meter readings accuracy).

SmartSpot Oman is an intelligent platform designed to help entrepreneurs and investors in the Sultanate of Oman choose the most suitable location for their projects by analyzing open data and presenting it in an easy and interactive way. The platform relies on multiple sources from the National Open Data Portal. It uses data on registered companies by governorate and sector issued by the Public Authority for Projects, Tenders and Local Content to identify business density and commercial competition in each area. It also uses data on visitors to the Jebel Akhdar from 2009 to March 2025 issued by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism to measure tourism activity in the Jebel Akhdar. In addition, it uses data on tourism activity institutions in Oman issued by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority to determine the size of the tourism sector and the available opportunities.

The platform further uses data on the number of licensed activities in commercial registers during 2025 issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion to analyze market growth and recent commercial activity, as well as data on visitors to Salalah during the Khareef season from 2009 to 2024 issued by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism to assess seasonal tourism demand. Moreover, it incorporates data on categorized restaurants, cafés, and tourist shops up to December 2025 issued by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism to identify the level of competition in the food and tourism services sector. It also uses data on all students in the Ministry of Education for 2024 issued by the Ministry of Education to understand educational density and the areas that may need services and projects targeted at students and families.

Based on these data, the platform provides an interactive map and analytical indicators that help users compare governorates and wilayats and select the best project location according to business density, tourism demand, competition level, and the size of the target segment.

Darb Platform Darb Platform is an interactive platform that aims to transform open arterial road data into a clear spatial reading that helps users understand the main road network in the Sultanate of Oman. The website displays information related to road names, road numbers, start and end points, lengths, and the number of lanes associated with each road.

The website focuses particularly on analyzing the characteristics of arterial roads and extracting indicators that help in understanding the transportation infrastructure. These indicators include the number of roads, total road lengths, average road length, and high-priority roads. The website also helps highlight service gaps and links road data with investment opportunities and logistics services.

The website further provides a visual experience that helps users compare roads and analyze their spatial distribution in a simplified manner. Thus, the website is not limited to displaying road names only, but rather offers an analytical reading that helps in understanding the role of the road network in connecting governorates and different regions, and in supporting spatial planning, logistics services, traffic safety, and domestic tourism.

Datasets Used: Arterial Roads in the Sultanate of Oman. Publishing Entity: Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology.

Omani Climate Intelligence Platform The Omani Climate Intelligence Platform is an interactive platform that aims to transform open meteorological data into a clear reading that helps users understand climate indicators in the Sultanate of Oman. The website displays data related to temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, and wind speed during the period from 2020 to 2025, and illustrates them through visual indicators and charts that make it easy to track climate trends.

The website focuses particularly on the use of artificial intelligence algorithms and data analysis to detect unusual climate patterns. The Isolation Forest algorithm was used to identify records that deviate from the general pattern of the data, and climate clustering methods were also employed to classify records into similar groups based on their climatic characteristics.

The website also provides analytical dashboards that help users move from reading raw numbers to a deeper understanding of climate patterns. These dashboards include the detection of unusual records, the exploration of climate clusters, and the monitoring of indicators that can support environmental planning and renewable energy initiatives. Thus, the website is not limited to displaying data, but rather offers an analytical experience powered by artificial intelligence.

Datasets Used: Meteorological data for the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. Publishing Entity: Civil Aviation Authority.

Financial Radar (Al-Radar Al-Mali) Financial Radar is an interactive platform that aims to transform open budget data into a clear and simplified reading, helping users understand the trends of public finance in the Sultanate of Oman. The website displays the evolution of revenues and expenditures during the period from 2020 to 2026, and illustrates the relationship between them through visual indicators such as surplus, deficit, and the revenue-to-expenditure coverage ratio.

The website focuses particularly on the comparison between the approved budget and the final account in the years for which actual data is available, namely 2022, 2023, and 2024. Through this comparison, Financial Radar demonstrates how some financial outcomes shifted from a projected deficit to an actual surplus, while highlighting the factors that contributed to this transformation, such as the rise in actual revenues or the variation in expenditure levels compared to what was approved.

The website also provides an interactive tool for testing surplus and deficit scenarios, where users can modify revenues or expenditures and instantly see the impact on the financial outcome. Thus, the website is not limited to displaying numbers, but rather offers a practical experience that helps in understanding the effect of financial changes in an easy and clear manner.

Datasets Used: The State General Budget for the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. The State Final Account for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024. Publishing Entity: Ministry of Finance.

Since 2001, Sultan Qaboos University has focused on scientific research to become an important national and regional research hub. To learn more about the university’s journey toward excellence in the field of research, I collected several datasets from the National Open Data Portal and published by Sultan Qaboos University, namely:

Research Projects by Grant Type (External, Internal, Strategic, Joint, National Research) Research Papers Published in Journals and Presented in Conferences Undergraduate Students (Diploma/Bachelor – Admitted, Registered, Graduated, by gender) Postgraduate Students (PG Diploma/Masters/Doctorates – Admitted, Registered, Graduated, by gender) Using Python, I merged these datasets, standardized and cleaned them, and then calculated the annual percentage change for key indicators (KPIs).

The data showed a steady increase in the number of active research projects, reaching 266 projects, and in some years, scientific output surpassed the 2,000-papers threshold. The study also revealed a positive relationship between postgraduate studies and research production, showing a close and direct link between the surge in postgraduate student numbers—especially PhD students, whose count more than doubled by over 125% to reach 447 students—and the sustainability of research projects. This finding suggests that investment in Higher Diploma, Master’s, and Doctoral programs is the “core driver” that powers research activity and provides the human resources required to run grants and research projects.

The data also confirmed the diversity and sustainability of research funding sources, including:

External and Internal Grants Strategic and Joint Grants National Research Grants In 2016, the university reached a peak productivity level by publishing 1,983 papers. In 2025, the number of active research projects rose to 266 projects (an annual increase of 17.2% compared with the previous year), and the allocated budget grew significantly to reach OMR 2.33 million.

Overall, the university’s research journey continues to evolve, shifting from quantity to quality and placing greater emphasis on the quality of published research.

The National Open Data Portal was accessed, and through it, information about the environment was obtained, environmental reports according to the attached link. The number of births and deaths was also benefited from the data resulting from the National Statistics Center, which was attached to the platform. In general, the researcher relies heavily on the portal in preparing various research and studies related to education or society. I have attached a picture of the work plan, because the work is still ongoing.

The idea behind the educational entertainment platform (Sa’iH and Thinker in Oman) is based on linking science in general and, specifically, helping users acquire scientific concepts, with scientific tourism—which relies on discovering natural tourist sites in the Sultanate of Oman, and connecting the tourist’s observations of these sites to scientific foundations.

This project is considered one of the rare initiatives due to its pioneering concept that innovatively links education with tourism through the term natural scientific tourism.

Importance of the Project This project is a leading initiative that specifically draws the attention of students, and of citizens in general, across the Arab world, to re-examine environmental and tourism sites and to care for them differently. The platform corrects many alternative misconceptions about scientific sites and provides scientifically accurate information about various natural locations.

The application has also dedicated a special section to rare living organisms in Oman (rare plants, rare animals, birds, and marine life). This is done by providing information about them, their importance, and ways to benefit from them. This encourages users to reconsider what they see—plants, animals, and birds—enhances their appreciation of them, and motivates them to protect and care for them. For example, the application includes a section on rare plants found in Oman, explaining their importance, which increased users’ awareness of these plants.

What distinguishes the app is that it is not static, but interactive. Students can upload photos they took during their visits to natural tourist sites, receive interaction/feedback from other users, and they can also upload the site’s GPS location, which helps others reach and enjoy those places.

How Was the National Open Data Portal Used? First, we reviewed the most important Omani animals, plants, and birds that were added later to the platform through the Publishers section, specifically via the Environment Authority icon. We conducted a survey of the most important Omani birds, plants, and animals using the animal and bird statistics file from the Biodiversity Center.

Next, we identified the most important natural tourism sites in the Al-Wusta (Central) Governorate, and we compiled the key beaches in that region from the file: “Natural Tourism Sites in Al-Wusta Governorate.”

The research paper addressed a heritage and spatial tourism study of Al Wusta Governorate in the Sultanate of Oman. The aim was to analyze the tourism, natural, and heritage components, and to assess the governorate’s accessibility efficiency through spatial analysis and a study of the transport infrastructure.

The study relied on data from the Sultanate of Oman’s National Open Data Platform, which provides datasets from various government entities. Specifically, the population layer from the National Center for Statistics and Information was used to analyze population distribution and density. In addition, data on main, secondary, national, and internal roads, as well as roads distributed under datasets from the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, were used.

A new index was also developed to measure accessibility and the efficiency of land transport compared with other transportation modes.

The study concluded that it is important to develop roads leading to tourism sites and to strengthen air connectivity through Duqm Airport. It also recommends establishing tourism routes, transportation buses, and maritime tours. Furthermore, it highlights supporting geological and environmental tourism, star-gazing tourism, attracting hotel investments, and increasing Omanization and tourism training rates—measures that contribute to achieving sustainable tourism development and data-driven decision-making.