Patent Publication Number: US-2015074111-A1

Title: Information integration control system, social infrastructure operation system, operation method, local apparatus and server apparatus

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/720,323, filed Dec. 19, 2012, which is a Continuation-in-Part Application of PCT Application No. PCT/JP2012/065247, filed Jun. 14, 2012 and based upon and claiming the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-132703, filed Jun. 14, 2011, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein relate generally to a social infrastructure operation system for operating a social infrastructure. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In a conventional social system, a plurality of social infrastructures are independently managed and operated. For example, optimization processing for energy saving is only executed for each infrastructure. Hence, optimization control at the region level or a household level has not been implemented yet, not to mention control on a nation basis. 
     In a certain concept, a regional community and a social infrastructure in it are regarded together as one community. There is a demand for a new management and operation method considering not only the social infrastructure but also the relationship to people in the community. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example of an information integration control system according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart showing an operation example in which an operation instruction is executed for a social infrastructure and an inhabitant according to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart showing an example of optimization processing in KPI display according to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart exemplary showing a procedure of storing in KVS in information collection processing according to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart showing an example of optimization processing in KPI calculation according to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart exemplary showing the procedure of processing of computing an operation plan when KPIs based on a plurality of intermediate values are processed parallelly according to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a flowchart exemplary showing the procedure of processing of integrating a plurality of KPI calculation results and optimizing them according to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a conceptual view showing an example of a procedure of creating an EV driving plan by an existing technique; 
         FIG. 9  is a conceptual view showing an example of a procedure of creating an EV driving plan by the system according to the embodiment; 
         FIG. 10  is a system chart showing an example of a social infrastructure operation system according to the second embodiment; 
         FIG. 11  is a functional block diagram exemplary showing the main parts of the social infrastructure operation system according to the second embodiment; 
         FIG. 12  is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of a local apparatus  31  according to the second embodiment; 
         FIG. 13  is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure concerning operation plan creation by a server apparatus  18 ; and 
         FIG. 14  is a flowchart showing another example of the processing procedure concerning operation plan creation by the server apparatus  18 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, according to one embodiment, an information integration control system includes a collector, a storage module and a generator. The collector collects infrastructure information concerning a social infrastructure, user information about a user who uses the social infrastructure, and management information of a manager who manages the social infrastructure and the user. The storage module stores the infrastructure information, the user information, and the management information which are collected. The generator generates control information for the social infrastructure based on the infrastructure information, the user information, and the management information which are stored in the storage module. 
     First Embodiment 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example of the arrangement of an information integration control system according to the first embodiment. This system comprises an information communication infrastructure  11 , a plurality of kinds of social infrastructures (electrical, water supply, traffic, medical, and other facilities)  12 A,  12 B, . . . , an administrative (administrator) server  13 , and an inhabitant (beneficiary) server  14 , which can communicate with each other by connecting input/output modules  121 ,  131 , and  141  via a network. “Inhabitants” means persons who live in the area or region where the plurality of kinds of social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . are provided. “Users” means persons who use the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . , and forms a wider concept including inhabitants. “Administration” is a manager that manages the plurality of kinds of social infrastructures and the inhabitants (users). 
     The information communication infrastructure  11  integrates infrastructure information collected concerning the various kinds of social infrastructures, and optimizes and provides the information in response to a request. A function of this type can be implemented by a cloud computing system including a plurality of servers, databases, and the like. The information communication infrastructure  11  comprises a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) calculator  114 , a database  115 , a display optimizer  116 , and an instruction creator  117 . 
     Infrastructure information (usage state and device state) collected from a facility apparatus  122  in each of the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . , administration information (KPIs (statistics such as a population, a birth rate, and economic indicators, various kinds of numerical values such as an energy saving ratio and a result of questionnaire) representing the operation state of the whole social infrastructure) from the administrative server  13 , and inhabitant information (including information acquired from various kinds of sensors installed in a house and the like) from the inhabitant server  14  are collected via input/output modules  111  to  113  and stored in the database  115 . 
     The database  115  is, for example, a distributed storage media and stores various kinds of information and data in, for example, KVS (Key-Value Store) format. That is, the database  115  stores information sent from, for example, the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . , the administrative server  13 , and the inhabitant server  14  in the form of a pair of key (index) and value. A key is an index used to identify each information, and a value indicates the contents (value) of information corresponding to each key. 
     As a feature, a key-value store database can be extended scalably and guarantee a response in a predetermined search time. It is therefore possible to, for example, store an enormous amount of data on the order of Gbyte per sec in real time. Information can be stored either directly or after processed on the social infrastructure side. In addition, information concerning a company that operates an infrastructure is arbitrarily added. Inhabitant information is assumed to be acquired from the facility of an infrastructure company, a facility installed in an inhabitant&#39;s home for another purpose, or another service used by the inhabitant. 
     The KPI calculator  114  calculates KPIs based on the infrastructure information acquired from the different social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . , the administration information from the administrative server  13 , and the inhabitant information from the inhabitant server  14 , which are stored in the database  115 . 
     The instruction creator  117  calculates optimum instruction information for the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . , and the inhabitant server  14  based on the calculated KPIs. 
     The infrastructure information may temporarily be converted into a comparable intermediate value and then converted into a KPI by the KPI calculator  114 . For the processing of the KPI calculator  114 , it is necessary to perform multivariable analysis for, for example, at least thousands of different indicators within a predetermined time. Hence, a cloud computing system capable of parallel processing is usable. That is, the KPI calculator  114  is implemented in a cloud computing system. The processing of calculating KPIs can be implemented as a service provided by the cloud computing system. 
     When storing information in the database  115 , there are converted into intermediate values comparable even for a different social infrastructure or the like. The concept of the intermediate value includes not only the image of “virtual cost” but also a value that cannot be converted into cost. Examples of the intermediate value are “individual environmental load value for one hour or one day” and “individual convenience evaluation value for one hour or one day”. The intermediate value may be a value such as a subset of KPIs of a city. 
     The display optimizer  116  changes the KPIs calculated by the KPI calculator  114  to a format easy to see for a person in evaluation verification. The KPIs in the changed format may be used as instruction information. The KPIs are sent to the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . , the administrative server  13 , and the inhabitant server  14  via the input/output modules  111  to  113  and displayed on the display devices as information for the social infrastructures, inhabitants, and administration. 
     Note that the administrator may set the KPIs via the input/output module  131 . In this case, control information is propagated to the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . or the inhabitant server  14  through a path reverse to that for display. 
     An example of an operation in the above-described system arrangement will be described below. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an operation example in which an operation instruction is executed for a social infrastructure and an inhabitant. Referring to  FIG. 2 , power demand prediction information, traffic congestion information, accident information, meteorological information, and the like are collected from the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . and the administrative server  13 . Various kinds of inhabitant information detected by various kinds of sensors (electricity meter, gas meter, and security sensor) in a house are collected from the inhabitant server  14 . The pieces of collected information are stored in the database  115  in KVS and periodically updated (step S 11 ). 
     The calculator  114  calculates KPIs based on the information stored in the database  115  and indicators given in advance or newly given from the administration side (step S 12 ). The calculator  114  creates an operation plan concerning each social infrastructure based on the calculated KPIs (step S 13 ). Finally, the operation contents can be sent to the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . and the inhabitant server  14  in accordance with the operation plan. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example of optimization processing in KPI display. Pieces of information are collected and stored in the database  115  in the above-described way (step S 21 ). KPIs are calculated based on the information (step S 22 ). The display optimizer  116  then converts the calculated KPIs into display contents including graphs, charts, texts, and the like easy to compare (step S 23 ). This allows the system user to easily do determination of indicator evaluation because the KPIs are always displayed in an optimized format. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an example of a procedure of storing in KVS in the above-described information collection processing. The pieces of infrastructure information, administration information, and inhabitant information are collected (step S 31 ). These pieces of information are converted into the form of a pair of index and value (step S 32 ). The pieces of information are further converted into intermediate values that can easily be compared with each other (step S 33 ) and stored in the database  115  as KVS information. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an example of optimization processing in the above-described KPI calculation. Pieces of information of intermediate values 1 to N stored in KVS are extracted from the database  115  (step S 41 ). Processing division based on the KPIs is executed (step S 42 ). Based on the division result, processing corresponding to a KPI is executed for each of the intermediate values 1 to N (steps S 431 , . . . , S 43 N). The results are integrated again (step S 44 ). Intermediate values 1′ to N′ that have undergone the KPI processing are calculated and stored in the database  115 . As described above, when executing KPI calculation, the KPIs are divisionally calculated and integrated again. This enables to always perform optimum information processing even if the amount of data is enormous. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a mechanism which, when KPIs based on a plurality of intermediate values are processed parallelly (step S 51 ), compares the individual KPIs (step S 52 ) and computes an operation plan according to parameters such as a priority (step S 52 ).  FIG. 7  illustrates a mechanism which, when a plurality of KPIs are calculated from intermediate values stored in the database  115  (step S 61 ), integrates and optimizes the plurality of KPI calculation results (step S 62 ) in display optimization processing S 62 . 
     As described above, in the system according to the first embodiment, pieces of information collected from the social infrastructures, administration, and inhabitant are stored in the database  115  in KVS that guarantees a response in a predetermined search time. The pieces of information are read out from the database  115  at an arbitrary timing to calculate defined KPIs which are provided in an optimum display format. It is therefore possible to properly collect management and measurement information of various kinds of infrastructures, efficiently accumulate the enormous amount of information, and execute appropriate information processing according to a request. This allows to achieve a quantum leap in implementing a smart community. 
     As is known, the services of conventional social infrastructure such as electrical, water supply, traffic, communication, and administrative infrastructures are provided based on the contract and procedure between the operating organizations (for example, administration) and inhabitants for each type of the infrastructures. Information accumulated and collected when providing the service of each infrastructure is used only for the service of its own but not to improve another service in principle. A smart community needs to be designed to implement cooperation by information communication throughout the social system including the social infrastructures and satisfy the following conditions: 
     (1) an infrastructure company can efficiently improve and operate a social infrastructure; 
     (2) an administrator (administration) can continuously execute operation and improvement of a whole social system; and 
     (3) an inhabitant can benefit from a service without degradation in convenience. 
     In this embodiment, using the cloud computing technology, infrastructure information, inhabitant information, and administration information throughout a social system are stored in the database  115  on the cloud, and the KPI calculator  114  calculates a social infrastructure plan or inhabitant use plan. This allows to bring a profit to the social infrastructures, the administrators and companies which operate the social infrastructures, and the inhabitants. 
     An example will be described next in which a profit can be brought to a traffic facility that operates a vehicle (for example, an electric vehicle (EV)), an inhabitant (driver), and an administrator by exchanging information via the system implemented in the first embodiment. The vehicle EV is an example of a social infrastructure, too, as a matter of course. 
     Pieces of information collected from the side of the inhabitant server  14  are the remaining battery level of the EV and the distance to the destination. Pieces of information collected from the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . are the electricity rate that is determined by the electrical facility and varies depending on the region and time zone and the position of a charger determined by the traffic facility. Pieces of information collected from the administrative server  13  are traffic regulations to optimize traffic. 
       FIG. 8  is a conceptual view showing an example of a procedure of creating an EV driving plan by an existing technique.  FIG. 9  is a conceptual view showing an example of a procedure of creating an EV driving plan by the system according to the embodiment. 
     According to the conventional EV driving plan, the driver of the EV refers to the remaining battery level and the distance to the destination, thereby estimating whether he/she can arrive at the destination without stopping halfway and charges the EV, as shown in  FIG. 8 . In this case, if the presence/absence of a charger on the way ahead is unknown, drivers in a certain ratio charge the battery as a precaution based on the insufficient information. At the time of charging, if the supply of electricity is tight with respect to the demand, the facility company is disadvantageously forced into an inefficient operation because of the small margin of the electrical facility. Simultaneously, the EV driver (inhabitant) also suffers the disadvantage of the high electricity rate. 
     If infrastructure information acquired from another facility can be referred to from a point, an operation plan can be created based on the next charger position acquired from the traffic facility (facility-side information) so as to make full use of the electricity remaining in the battery and charge it in a smaller stop count, as shown in  FIG. 9 . In addition, the operation plan can be created based on the electricity rates acquired from electrical facilities  1  and  2  to select a charger capable of charging at a lower cost. Furthermore, whether the operation plan is applicable can be determined based on, for example, traffic regulation information (driving speed and the like) provided by the administration. 
     To implement this, the system according to the first embodiment comprises information collection processing of acquiring information from the inhabitant, the administration, and the social infrastructures, the database  115  that enables to refer to necessary information altogether in a short time at one point, and the KPI calculator  114  that performs calculation for optimization in a short time. This allows to flexibly and properly execute an operation instruction for various social infrastructures. 
     As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to collect infrastructure information such as management and measurement information concerning various kinds of infrastructures and execute appropriate information processing according to a request. 
     Second Embodiment 
       FIG. 10  is a system chart showing an example of a social infrastructure operation system according to the second embodiment.  FIG. 10  illustrates an electricity infrastructure  110 , a new energy infrastructure  120 , a road traffic infrastructure  130 , a railway infrastructure  140 , a water treatment infrastructure  150 , and a medical infrastructure  160  as examples of social infrastructures. That is, the social infrastructure operation system can target a plurality of social infrastructures of different types. The social infrastructures are not limited to those, and there are a variety of social infrastructures such as a heat supply infrastructure, a communication infrastructure, and a building infrastructure. In comparison between  FIG. 10  and  FIG. 1 , the infrastructures  110  to  160  ( FIG. 10 ) correspond to the social infrastructures  12 A,  12 B, . . . ( FIG. 1 ). 
     The electricity infrastructure  110  can include power stations, power plants, and power grids. The new energy infrastructure  120  is an infrastructure concerning renewable energies, including electricity storage SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) and PV (photovoltaic) systems. The road traffic infrastructure  130  can include traffic lights, highway networks, and general road networks. 
     The railway infrastructure  140  can include railway networks, vehicles, and ticket reservation centers. The water treatment infrastructure  150  can include water supply/sewerage and filter plants. The medical infrastructure  160  can include hospitals, hospital facilities, various kinds of modalities (CT scanner, X-ray diagnostic apparatus, MRI imaging apparatus, and the like), and a network in a hospital. Each of the infrastructures (social infrastructures)  110  to  160  has a unique control target. The control targets of the infrastructures will generically be referred to as controlled targets hereinafter. 
     The infrastructures  110  to  160  are connected to a communication network  17 . A cloud computing system  1000  is connected to the communication network  17  via a gateway (GW)  100 . The communication network  17  of this embodiment is a guarantee-type network capable of guaranteeing the communication speed. 
     That is, in the embodiment, the cloud computing system  1000  and the infrastructures  110  to  160  are connected via a network capable of guaranteeing the communication band. Examples of a network of this type include a VPN (Virtual Private Network) constructed in an IP (Internet Protocol) network as well as a dedicated line using an optical communication technology. Using a communication network of this type allows to guarantee immediacy in information transfer. 
     An administrative server  13  is connected to the communication network  17 . Imparting the function of the upper layer of the system to the administrative server  13  makes it possible to comprehensively control the target social system. In such a case, the administrative server  13  is sometimes called, for example, an SCMS (Smart Community Management System) server. 
     A plurality of households (to be referred to as subscriber homes  16  hereinafter) are also connected to the communication network  17 . For example, the function of an inhabitant server  14  ( FIG. 1 ) can be implemented in a personal computer installed in each subscriber home  16 . Alternatively, the function of the inhabitant server  14  may be imparted to the server apparatus of an HEMS (Home Energy Management System) that is an energy management system formed in each home. The subscriber homes  16  and the HEMS are also included in the social infrastructures, as a matter of course. 
     The cloud computing system  1000  is constituted by, for example, a company (vendor) that provides the service according to the embodiment. An example is a data center. The cloud computing system  1000  comprises a server apparatus  18  and a database  115 . 
     The server apparatus  18  can be formed as a single computer or an integral of a plurality of computers. The database  115  can be either provided in one computer or distributed to a plurality of computers. In this embodiment, a form including a plurality of server apparatuses  18  and a plurality of databases  115  is assumed. In this form, the server apparatuses  18  are connected to each other via a cloud communication network  300 . 
     In the embodiment, each of the infrastructures  110  to  160  comprises a local apparatus  31 . Each local apparatus  31  can locally control a corresponding one of the infrastructures  110  to  160 , as needed. That is, the local apparatus  31  has a unique control function to control the controlled target of each infrastructure. 
     Note that each of the administrative server  13 , the inhabitant server  14 , the local apparatus  31 , and the server apparatus  18  is formed from a computer comprising a CPU (Central Processing Unit). 
     The CPU is a processor for controlling the operation of various components in the computer. The CPU executes an operating system (OS) and various application programs. 
     For example, in the electricity infrastructure  110 , the local apparatus  31  has a function of controlling electricity distribution for each consumer. In the new energy infrastructure  120 , the local apparatus  31  has a function of measuring the power generation amount of the PV system based on meteorological information. In the road traffic infrastructure  130 , the local apparatus  31  has a function of performing traffic control on roads. 
     In the railway infrastructure  140 , the local apparatus  31  has a function of performing operation management of railways. In the water treatment infrastructure  150 , the local apparatus  31  has a function of controlling the flow rate of water supplies or controlling the pondages of irrigation water and dams. In the medical infrastructure  160 , the local apparatus  31  has a function of performing various kinds of control for data input interfaces, interpretation monitors, and LAN in hospitals or accumulating various kinds of medical data. 
     Each local apparatus  31  is connected to the communication network  17  so as to perform information communication with the server apparatus  18 , acquire various kinds of data from the database  115 , or accumulate various kinds of data in the database  115  via the server apparatus  18 . That is, the local apparatuses  31  and the server apparatuses  18  are connected via the communication network  17  so as to perform information communication with each other. 
     The server apparatus  18  has a function of giving the local apparatus  31  various kinds of instruction information (including a command and control data) to control the controlled target. That is, the server apparatus  18  is placed as the upper layer of the local apparatus  31  or the infrastructures  110  to  160 . 
     The database  115  accumulates infrastructure information (sensing data) concerning the social infrastructures. Examples of the infrastructure information are meter data, sensor data, traffic, GPS (Global Positioning System) data, life log, and the like from various kinds of monitor control systems such as a smart meter, various kinds of sensors, a network monitoring apparatus, an MDMS (Meter Data Management System), and a core system (billing system). That is, infrastructure information is an amount measured by some measurement means or information given from a human to a system. These data are enormous in amount and are therefore called BigData in fields associated with cloud computing. 
       FIG. 11  is a functional block diagram showing the main parts of the social infrastructure operation system according to the second embodiment.  FIG. 11  illustrates a case mainly associated with the electricity infrastructure, the medical infrastructure and the traffic infrastructure that are social infrastructures. 
     Each of the local apparatus  31  of the electricity infrastructure and the local apparatus  31  of the medical infrastructure comprises a monitor  31   a , an uploader  31   b , a receiver  31   c , and a human-machine interface (HMI)  31   d  as processing functions according to the embodiment. 
     The monitor  31   a  monitors infrastructure information concerning the social infrastructure as the control target. The uploader  31   b  uploads and transmits the infrastructure information to the server apparatus  18  via the communication network  17 . The receiver  31   c  receives an operation plan of the social infrastructure as the control target from the server apparatus  18 . The HMI  31   d  notifies the user (for example, system operator) of the social infrastructure of the received operation plan by, for example, graphically displaying it. 
     The administrative server  13  comprises an information input module  13   a , and a user interface (UI)  13   b  in addition to the uploader  31   b  and the receiver  31   c  as processing functions according to the embodiment. The information input module  13   a  inputs information necessary for accomplishing, for example, an administrative service, such as inhabitant information concerning an inhabitant. That is, information managed by the municipality in the region where the social infrastructure is constituted can be regarded as the inhabitant information. 
     The inhabitant information is handled like the infrastructure information and uploaded and transmitted to the server apparatus  18  by the uploader  31   b . The UI  13   b  notifies the user (for example, administrative official) of the social infrastructure of an operation plan received from the server apparatus  18  by, for example, graphically displaying it, like the HMI  31   d.    
     Similarly, the inhabitant server  14  comprises the information input module  13   a , the uploader  31   b , the receiver  31   c , and the user interface (UI)  13   b . In the inhabitant server  14 , the information input module  13   a  is used to input information concerning electrical devices (for example, home appliances such as an air conditioner, an illumination, a TV, and a home medical facility, a PV system, a fuel cell, and a storage battery) installed in the subscriber home  16  (inhabitant home) in addition to the above-described inhabitant information. These pieces of information (home appliance information) are handled like the infrastructure information and uploaded and transmitted to the server apparatus  18  by the uploader  31   b . The UI  13   b  notifies the home user (for example, subscriber) of an operation plan received from the server apparatus  18  by, for example, graphically displaying it. 
     The server apparatus  18  comprises an acquisition module  18   a , a collector  18   b , a plan creator  18   c , a transmitter  18   d , a KPI calculator  114 , and a converter  18   e  as processing functions. 
     The acquisition module  18   a  acquires infrastructure information uploaded and transmitted from the social infrastructures from the local apparatuses  31 , the administrative server  13 , and the inhabitant server  14  via the communication network  17 . The acquired infrastructure information is accumulated in the database  115  (infrastructure information  115   a ). Note that setting information acquired from the administrative server  13  is also accumulated in the database  115  (setting information  115   b ). The setting information is information concerning, for example, control of traffic lights in the road traffic infrastructure  130 . 
     The collector  18   b  collects inhabitant information from the administrative server  13  and the inhabitant server  14  via the communication network  17 . The collected inhabitant information is accumulated in the database  115  (inhabitant information  115   e ). 
     The inhabitant information can include information of, for example, the householder name, the address, the family make-up, and the ages of the family members. These pieces of information are based on a basic register of inhabitants (or census register information) managed by the municipality and can be uploaded from the administrative server  13 . In addition, information about the hobbies and preferences of inhabitants or part of the home appliance information (for example, device name or special setting information) can be uploaded directly from the inhabitant server  14  to the system as one form of the inhabitant information. A web page using the CGI (Common Gateway Interface) technology or the like is usable as the interface. 
     The collector  18   b  also collects home appliance information  115   f  and presence information  115   g  from the inhabitant server  14  and accumulates them in the database  115 . The presence information represents the presence/absence of an inhabitant or the like in the subscriber home. Information of this type can easily be collected using SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) well known in an IP (Internet Protocol) telephone system that has recently achieved noticeable proliferation. Using the presence information enables to distinguish states such as “calling”, “using computer”, and “in meeting” in addition to the presence/absence. 
     The plan creator  18   c  creates operation plans of the infrastructures including the home appliances using at least one of the infrastructure information  115   a , the setting information  115   b , the inhabitant information  115   e , the home appliance information  115   f , and the presence information  115   g  accumulated in the database  115 . The transmitter  18   d  transmits the created operation plans to the administrative server  13 , the inhabitant server, and the local apparatuses  31 . 
     The KPI calculator  114  calculates a KPI as a key performance indicator based on at least one of the infrastructure information  115   a , the setting information  115   b , the inhabitant information  115   e , the home appliance information  115   f , and the presence information  115   g  accumulated in the database  115 . The calculated KPI is accumulated in the database  115  (KPI  115   c ). 
     The converter  18   e  converts the infrastructure information acquired from each of the local apparatuses  31 , the administrative server  13 , and the inhabitant server  14  into an intermediate value comparable at least between the electricity infrastructure and the medical infrastructure. The calculated intermediate value is accumulated in the database  115  (intermediate value  115   d ). 
     Note that the plan creator  18   c  may create an operation plan based on the KPI  115   c . The plan creator  18   c  may create an operation plan for each social infrastructure based on the intermediate value  115   d , the infrastructure information from the electricity infrastructure and the medical infrastructure, and the setting information and inhabitant information from the administration and the inhabitant. For example, the operation plan of a vehicle EV from charger finding to charge determination described with reference to  FIG. 9  generally reflects infrastructure information provided by the vehicle EV, the electricity infrastructure, the road traffic infrastructure, and the administrative service. 
     Note that in the above-described arrangement, an SCMS server  200  may be connected to the server apparatus  18  to comprehensively control the target social system. The SCMS server  200  is operated by, for example, the vendor of the cloud computing system  1000 . The functions of the above-described arrangement will be described next. 
       FIG. 12  is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the local apparatus  31  and the server apparatus  18  according to the second embodiment. Referring to  FIG. 12 , for example, the local apparatus  31  of the medical infrastructure  160  collets infrastructure information concerning the control target and uploads and transmits the collected infrastructure information to the server apparatus  18  via the communication network  17  (step S 1 ). The server apparatus  18  acquires the infrastructure information transmitted from the local apparatus  31  (step S 2 ). 
     The inhabitant server  14  uploads and transmits the inhabitant&#39;s inhabitant information to the server apparatus  18  via the communication network  17  (step S 3 ). The server apparatus  18  collects the inhabitant information transmitted from the inhabitant server  14  (step S 4 ). 
     The server apparatus  18  accumulates the acquired infrastructure information (infrastructure information  115   a ) and the collected inhabitant information (inhabitant information  115   e ) in the database  115  (step S 5 ). The setting information  115   b , the home appliance information  115   f , and the presence information  115   f  are also accumulated in the database  115 , as shown in  FIG. 11 . 
     The server apparatus  18  reads out, from the database  115 , infrastructure information and inhabitant information necessary for creating the operation plan of the medical infrastructure and creates the operation plan (step S 6 ). The server apparatus  18  then transmits the created operation plan to the local apparatus  31  and the inhabitant server  14  (step S 7 ). 
     The local apparatus  31  receives the operation plan transmitted from the server apparatus  18  (step S 8 ) and stores it in an internal memory (not shown). The local apparatus  31  notifies the user of the received operation plan by, for example, displaying it on a display (step S 9 ). The local apparatus  31  controls each social infrastructure in the medical infrastructure  160  based on the operation plan (step S 10 ). 
     On the other hand, the inhabitant server  14  receives the operation plan transmitted from the server apparatus  18  (step S 11 ) and stores it in an internal memory (not shown). The inhabitant server  14  notifies the user of the received operation plan by, for example, displaying it on a display (step S 12 ). 
       FIG. 13  is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the server apparatus  18  in step S 6  shown in  FIG. 12 . The server apparatus  18  calculates the KPI  115   c  as a key performance indicator based on the infrastructure information  115   a  and inhabitant information  115   e  accumulated in the database  115  (step S 51 ). The server apparatus  18  creates the operation plan of each social infrastructure based on the calculated KPI  115   c  (step S 52 ). 
       FIG. 14  is a flowchart showing another example of the processing procedure of the server apparatus  18  in step S 6  shown in  FIG. 12 . The server apparatus  18  calculates the intermediate value  115   d  of the infrastructure information  115   a  based on the infrastructure information  115   a  accumulated in the database  115  (step S 53 ). The server apparatus  18  creates the operation plan of each social infrastructure based on the calculated intermediate value  115   d  and the inhabitant information  115   e  (step S 54 ). 
     Note that infrastructure information acquisition and inhabitant information collection need not be repeated every time an operation plan is created in step S 6 . For example, when an operation plan is assumed to be created in a cycle of 30 min, the infrastructure information may be acquired in a cycle of 1 hr or longer, and the inhabitant information may be collected in a cycle of 1 day or longer. Only when the infrastructure information and inhabitant information have changed, the server apparatus  18  may be notified of them. The processing procedure shown in  FIG. 12  will be described next in detail. 
     In the second embodiment, infrastructure information and inhabitant information are uploaded to the cloud computing system  1000 . The cloud computing system  1000  calculates the operation plan of each social infrastructure based on these pieces of information. An example will be described below in association with real-time control that is an important concept of infrastructure control. 
     A demand response is known as a control form concerning the electricity infrastructure  110 . The demand response is a mechanism in which when the electricity supply capability is tight as compared to the needs, the electricity supplier requests power saving of the consumers (demand), and the consumers meet that request (response). For example, when a power plant is destructed by unexpected disasters, the immediacy of the demand response is particularly required to prevent a blackout in a wide range. 
     In the second embodiment, pieces of information concerning the social infrastructures and inhabitants are collected by the guarantee-type communication network  17 . An operation plan is calculated by the capability of the cloud computing system  1000 . This makes it possible to implement real-time control itself. 
     However, blindly cutting electricity to the consumers may be life-threatening for some people depending on the statuses of individual inhabitants. For example, if an operation plan for power saving is applied to a home where an elderly person or a person who requires nursing care is living, even the medical equipment may stop. 
     To prevent this, in the second embodiment, an operation plan is calculated in consideration of inhabitant information. For example, when a power company requires (demands) energy saving, the electricity is preferentially distributed to homes, hospitals, buildings, and the like where elderly people or sick people are living, and an optimum operation plan for a range except these places is created to perform individual control. 
     The inhabitant information can include not only information acquired from various kinds of sensors installed in a house or the like, information such as the householder name, the address, the family make-up, and the ages of the family members, information about the hobbies and preferences of inhabitants, and home appliance information, as already described, but also information of the health states of inhabitants, family doctor, the names of hospitals to visit or stay, the lists of medicines being taken, and the like. As these pieces of information, information uploaded from the medical infrastructure  160  to the cloud computing system  1000  may be used. Information of, for example, body temperature and blood pressure may be obtained by uploading, to the cloud computing system  1000 , data temporarily collected in the HEMS using the communication means provided in a thermometer and a sphygmomanometer. 
     Information to be used to determine the priority at the time of the demand response can be information described in the basic register of inhabitants or information given via the inhabitant server  14 . For example, an intention about whether or not to accept a power saving request is expressed for the system using the inhabitant server  14 , and this information is registered in the database  115 . This makes it possible to preferentially distribute electricity to a user who does not accept the request independently of the presence/absence of medical equipment in the home. However, such priority control needs administrative check from the viewpoint of fairness. 
     As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to implement the demand response reflecting even the actual conditions of each inhabitant&#39;s life, that is, implement a conditional demand response. This allows, by extension, to implement a more sophisticated and delicate community service based on more accurate inhabitant information. 
     As described above, according to the second embodiment, the user of a social infrastructure can receive an optimum operation plan by using the resource of the cloud computing system  1000 . In addition to the demand response, the driver (user) of the vehicle EV can receive an optimum operation plan by operating a navigation system (local apparatus  31 ), as described in, for example, the first embodiment. 
     The vendor of the cloud computing system  1000  can also form a business model that profits from charging when providing an operation plan to the user of each social infrastructure. Consideration for inhabitants belonging to a community is never neglected when forming a smart social infrastructure, as a matter of course. This makes it possible to provide a social infrastructure operation system capable of forming a smart social infrastructure, an operation method, a local apparatus, a server apparatus, and a program. 
     Modification of Second Embodiment 
     In the flowchart of  FIG. 12 , after the operation plan is displayed on the local apparatus  31  (step S 9 ), the social infrastructure is immediately controlled (step S 10 ). Instead, a procedure of inquiring of a person about whether or not to permit control based on the operation plan may be inserted between steps S 9  and S 10 . For example, an interface (for example, clickable approve button) to approve the operation plan may the displayed on the screen of a display device together with the operation plan. Control based on the operation plan may start only when the user has clicked on the approve button. The person who approves the operation plan may be the operator of the target social infrastructure. Alternatively, an administrative official may determine whether or not to approve the operation plan. In this case, the operation plan is displayed not only on the HMI  31   d  of the local apparatus  31  but also on the user interface (UI)  13   b  of the administrative server  13 . When the approve button is displayed only on the UI  13   b  of the administrative server  13 , the determination about whether or not to approve the operation plan can be left to the administrative official. A plurality of operation plans may be calculated to allow to selectively designate one of them. 
     Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, in  FIG. 11 , the converter  18   e  is provided in the server apparatus  18  so that the server apparatus  18  executes processing of converting infrastructure information into an intermediate value. Instead, the converter  18   e  may be provided in each of the local apparatuses  31 , the administrative server  13 , and the inhabitant server  14 , and a locally generated intermediate value may be uploaded to the server apparatus  18 . 
     In the second embodiment, the demand response aiming at individual homes or buildings has been described. Instead, optimization control for each area (area with many hospitals or elderly inhabitants) or each community is also possible. 
     All the procedures of the operation process according to the present embodiment may be executed by software. Thus, the same advantageous effects as with the present embodiment can easily be obtained simply by installing a program, which executes the procedures of the operation process, into an ordinary computer through a computer-readable storage medium. 
     While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions. 
     The various modules of the systems described herein can be implemented as software applications, hardware and/or software modules, or components on one or more computers, such as servers. While the various modules are illustrated separately, they may share some or all of the same underlying logic or code. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.