Utility Week

38 | APRIL 2022 | UTILITY WEEK Analysis Pairing people and 'deep tech' for a smart water revolution Experts from Northumbrian and Wessex Water, Isle Utilities and Ofwat gauge the balance between tech and talent in the next wave of smart water innovation projects. S peaking at Utility Week WWT's Smart Water Conference 2022, Ofwat's director for regulatory policy, Harry Armstrong, explained that the regulator can play a key role in driving innovation in the market – and ultimately shaping the water industry's smart tech revolution. Alongside the Ofwat Innovation Fund – designed to foster a culture around innova- tion and deliver a "step change" in the way the sector is run and what it can achieve – he flagged a number of cultural and technology enablers that he believed will increase the water sector's capacity to innovate. These span openness, adaptability, managing inno- vation risk, scalability and deployability and pushing a long-term focus. He also described collaboration as a "really important enabler", with most of the projects funded by Ofwat's two competitions since October 2020 involving four or more partners. However, forecasting the Ofwat Innova- tion Fund's post-pilot phase between 2022 and 2025, Armstrong said innovation would be augmented by learning and collabora- tion on shared problems with firms in other sectors, greater pace of innovation and the ability to "fail fast", and openness to new perspectives and voices. While harnessing technology and talent will be crucial in this forthcoming phase, how can they dovetail to propel the utilities sector towards further smart innovation? 'Deep tech' fuelling innovation Offering a mid-AMP assessment of the water sector's "smart" revolution, Isle Utilities CEO Ben Tam explained that the period's inno- vation thus far had been shaped by chal- lenges such as the rocketing price of water, increased creation costs, and the need to protect the environment. And in terms of early successes, he high- lighted the advent of smart networks, includ- ing the smart meter rollout and bolstered communications infrastructure; new frame- works facilitating competitive collaboration; sensors, for example in maintaining water quality; the Ofwat Innovation fund which has helped "pick off " challenges that have previously been too difficult to fund, and the roll out of digital twins across water and wastewater networks. What's more, off the back of tens of millions of pounds of investment across customer-facing innovation, wastewater monitoring, water networks, engineering design and ensuring regulatory compliance, Tam forecast that the roll out of smart tech- nology will continue to gather pace. For example, ever-changing customer engagement will necessitate new inno- vation, alongside the need for enhanced health monitoring, with the Covid pandemic necessitating improvements in water-based epidemiology. On top of this he explained that attempts to reduce the impact of climate change will continue to drive innovation and build accel- erated business cases to meet net zero, in addition to new, data-led business models to fuel resource recovery, water neutrality and water offsetting. Fundamentally, Tam believes that "deep tech" – the term used for advanced technol- ogy based on specific engineering innova- tion or scientific discoveries and not geared towards end-user services – holds the key to continued success. He explained that this offers "hard" engineering and original science to solve problems, and that successful ventures will be problem orientated, operate at the con- vergence of multiple technologies – 96% of deep tech ventures use at least one technol- ogy, he explains – build a physical product, and form the heart of deep "ecosystems". Innovation as 'business as usual' However, while advances in "deep tech" offer a platform for innovation rooted in science and engineering, Beatrice Martin, head of clean water at Xylem Water Solutions UK, added that talent is o›en more important than technology in driving change. As such, creating the right environments for innovation to thrive is essential in help- ing utilities harness a wealth of knowledge, creativity, and ultimately technology, accord- ing to Angela MacOscar, head of innovation at Northumbrian Water. However, she explained that creating a culture of innovation hinges on providing adequate time, space, training and tools. With this in mind, Northumbrian Water has created an Innovation Ambassadors Group as it bids to incorporate a number of new, innovation stimulating behaviours, into "business as usual" and encourage neces- sary buy-in from senior leaders. MacOscar also stressed the importance of utility firms better reflecting customer bases in their workforces in order to max- imise innovation, and that bringing new people from different backgrounds on board offered invaluable access to new and differ- ent networks. Two-way communication As an example of a successful technology and talent pairing, Wessex Water's strategic digital manager, Adam Bear, explained that

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