Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | FEBRUARY 2020 | 7 seems to be a good platform and I think it has been well received. "I'd like to think we could play a part in helping to deliver the strategy. But I'd also like to think that we could connect with some other organisations and form a collaboration. I don't see this as one com- pany swooping in and saying, 'I can do this'. There is a lot of fragmentation in the sector currently and that needs to change. This might be a way of helping to do that. If you look at the innovation delivery process – we can map all the different or- ganisations along that. Some companies are operating more at the implementation end while others are operating more at the blue-sky end and then there are lots of companies in-between." Kaye admits that there will be chal- lenges around running such a fund af- fectively and believes that a sharing of the best ideas will benefit the sector. "If you do things in isolation then it's hard to know if it's the best solution be- cause you're not actually market testing it." Learning from other sectors In the energy networks space (electric- ity and gas), regulator Ofgem runs an annual competition which is designed to support a range of large-scale energy innovation projects in communities across the country. Network companies and their partners compete for funding for the development and demonstration of new energy technologies that will help run en- ergy network infrastructure in a smarter, cleaner and more flexible way. Kaye continues: "Implementation is always the most difficult part of the in- novation cycle. I think there are lessons to be learnt from the Ofgem fund. Picking the winners is the big challenge. How do you pick the winners and make sure that somebody else is not trialling something better in isolation? The expert panel or group of people that come together and do that and how they do it will be key." For the innovation fund to be fully suc- cessful Kaye says there must be a balance of short, medium and long-term projects. He noted: "If we're getting innovation that satisfies the near-future then that's a good thing. At the same time there might be something that takes five plus years to develop. I think if there's balance there then whether you've got a short term or long-term interest it should keep everyone happy. I wouldn't like to see it become something that was just deliver- ing quick wins. Some innovation takes more time and you need more collabora- tion. Collaboratively you can go further, but it sometimes takes a bit more time. If you want to do something quickly then typically you go it alone. There's a lot to be learnt about collaborating, working together and keeping a balance of short, medium and long-term projects." Delivering innovation As the man who led the innovation func- tion at Anglian Water for over 15 years, Kaye is well placed when it comes to spot- ting the benefits of innovation. "You need to be able to see the benefits of an innovation and from day one try and create a pathway to impact. O˜en companies don't really do that. I think if you're always aware of trying to revisit the benefits, if you get to a point where it hasn't given you the answer you want then you either pull the plug on it or keep going. You need a process to continually assess the benefits." Created in 1993, UKWIR is backed and funded by all 19 water and sewerage com- panies in the UK, who each contribute in proportion to the size of the population they serve. Kaye wants to lean on his experience to give something back to the sector and sees UKWIR as the ideal facilitator for delivering the innovation fund. "The fact that I've had a lot of experi- ence in the sector and done a lot of good work at Anglian Water, I'd like to give that knowledge back. R&D and innovation managers are o˜en not in their roles for long whilst others are. If you've had the benefit of experience, then this is a great opportunity to help the sector along." Whatever happens, Kaye is keen to see funding awarded proportionately and ulti- mately wants to see it benefit the sector. "I hope that we don't rush into it. It needs to be designed well. It needs to be affective. The strategy needs to be set and done efficiently. The money could be pro- filed. It doesn't have to be £40m a year. It makes more sense to ramp it up. "With any new organisation the turno- ver doesn't normally come until later. It's hard to hit the ground running when you haven't got one. I don't think you can underestimate the challenge of setting up such an organisation. If it's going to deliver innovation affectively it may well involve connecting some existing organi- sations together and building on the good work being done in the industry already." For now, it's a case of watch this space. Steve Kaye is a member of the Utility of the Future advisory board. In partnership with sister brands Utility Week and Network, the focus is on tackling difficult questions around engineering the digital future for utilities. This campaign will be brought to life at Utility Week Live in Birmingham from 19- 20 May 2020. For further information visit www.utilityweeklive.co.uk Driving change Ofwat explains its decision to make up to £200m available for innovation during the pe- riod 2020-2025 in a document entitled 'Time to act, now: driving transformational innovation in the sector'. In it, the regulator states: "We will run a collectively-funded innovation competition at least once a year. The competition will be open to the 17 water and wastewater companies, and new entrant water and wastewater compa- nies. We expect companies to work closely with each other, their supply chain (including small and medium-sized enterprises), other innova- tors, and stakeholders in preparing their bids for the competition. The innovation competi- tion is designed to complement our existing approach to innovation in PR19." Ofwat wants to see the sector express its commitment to innovation by developing a joint innovation strategy in 2020. As part of this they want companies to consider ways in which they could better streamline and coordinate innovation activities, and their engagement with stakeholders and small-scale innovators. This could take the shape of a water innovation centre of excellence, which could potentially be part-funded through the innova- tion competition. Ofwat says it will now work closely with stakeholders to finalise the framework and launch the innovation competition as soon as possible. Through the consultation process in sum- mer 2019, Ofwat received expressions of inter- est from a number of organisations wishing to get involved in the design and administration of the innovation competition. The regulator has also outlined its current view of next steps: Q1/2 2020 • Consult on and reach final decision on tim- ings and key outstanding policy issues. This will include developing further customer safeguards, setting out amount of match funding extended, managing Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), and process for re- viewing the innovation competition. • Kick off the process for appointing an organ- isation that can help design, and ultimately run, a successful innovation competition. This will include developing a more detailed set of criteria for assessment. Q2/3 2020 • Trial "one-stop-shop" within Ofwat to pro- vide regulatory advice to anyone looking to get innovations off the ground. Q3/4 2020 • Potential pilot run of competition.