Most infrastructure failures are not sudden. They begin as small, invisible changes — a joint loosening, a valve sticking, a blockage forming — and become visible only when a citizen complains.
The usual response is to improve the complaint system. That helps, but it still starts the clock after the harm.
The better question is what information would have shown the problem earlier. For a pipeline it may be inspection footage. For a water supply it may be a flow reading. For a work it may be a measurement that does not match a bill.
Technology earns its place when it moves the moment of discovery earlier. Everything else is decoration.