Utility Week

Operations & Assets 24 | 3RD - 9TH MAY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK apparently still has some way to go before it has an impact on either the water or energy sectors. Whereas more than 60 per cent of respondents said they were "excited and con- fident" about the potential of IoT and AI to help them meet future challenges, that num- ber dropped to under 15 per cent for virtual/ augmented reality, with a similar proportion saying they already had live applications. For those that did recognise transfor- mational potential in virtual reality, the highest expectation was that it would trans- form the way human resources and skills are deployed, followed by an expectation that it will transform asset management approaches. This reflects experiences in other sectors where augmented and virtual reality have been applied to transform field operations and employee training or upskilling programmes. Heath recognises that there are "certainly use cases for virtual reality", particularly around training. But he adds that "so far in the industry it's pretty niche". He adds: "It's not something you can't do without. It might just make certain things easier; there's very little where if you can't do it actually, you can do it virtually." Blockchain has even less take-up so far in the sector. Under 10 per cent of respondents said they were "confident" about its poten- tial, with the vast majority declaring them- selves "interested but cautious", and more than 80 per cent saying they did not yet have any live applications. Carruthers says that, at Scottish Power, blockchain technology sits in the "longer- term prospects" category. "You know it has some value and it can do cool things for you," he adds. "But you're not quite sure how best to use it or if it's better than other techniques that are already out there." However, the company has, he says, undertaken trial transactions using block- chain, working with supply chain partners to track individual energy units. "It's not 'now' for us, but it might not be far away, so it's right for us to get our hands dirty with pilots and things like that," he explains. "With all of these things, we're gradually implementing them where we can see the benefits but none are a silver bullet." Our survey shows that such an outlook is far from universal across utilities. With tech- nology and market conditions moving much faster than utilities strategies are wont to, a closed mind to "niche" or emerging tech- nologies, and the lack of a clear strategy for pivoting to grab benefit from new technologi- cal potential, could leave companies on the back foot. Insight report TELL US HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD OF THE UK UTILITIES INDUSTRY continued from previous page WHAT VISION DO YOU HAVE FOR THE WAYS IN WHICH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL ENABLE YOUR ORGANISATION TO MEET THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF TOMORROW? (SELECT ALL THAT APPLY) It will transform our approach to asset management, maintenance and planning 54% It will transform our ability to serve customers and their experience of our services 60% It will improve process efficiency and elevate trust across the value chain 40% It will transform our overall approach to operations 47% It will transform the way we deploy human resources and skills 73% It will cut our costs, enabling us to deliver better value services 60% My vision for using this technology in my organisation is not clear yet 7% Something else 13% Internet of Things 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Excited and confident Excited but uncertain Interested but cautious Fearful Uninterested/bored Artificial intelligence Virtual/ augmented reality Blockchain

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