Utility Week

36 | JULY 2022 | UTILITY WEEK Utility Week Live 2022 Utility Week editor James Wallin sat down with Aimie Chapple, the CEO of Utility Week Live's main sponsor Capita Experience, to gauge her thoughts on the challenges discussed over the two days and solutions presented. JW: Do you have any key takeways from the content? AC: What has been very interesting is that people are really seeing the possibility of how we can shape solu- tions with data. We're still at the real infancy of using consumer data and metadata in shaping the future and we see in other industries people are starting to use that unstructured data to try and find structured answers. And my guess is, we could be on the brink of that needing to happen in a utilities setting. There's a really urgent need to under- stand the customer and how their needs are changing in a really rapid way. What's clear to me from the conver- sations I've had and heard at Utility Week Live is that companies really want to embrace that. JW: Do you see progress being made? AC: Definitely. And I know it's not an easy process. There's a real mentality shi• that is happening in utili- ties. Historically it's perhaps been viewed as a bad thing if a customer is getting in touch because that probably means something has gone wrong. But there's huge value in what we call frictionless experiences with con- sumers that can provide value to them and help utilities learn and adapt. Then the next step is to create partner- ships where utilities can work with multiple parties – telecoms, local authorities – to use that data to provide people the support they need holistically. JW: Which brings us to the headline theme of col- laborative innovation. Do you see this happening in practice? AC: I'm really encouraged by things like Northumbrian Water's Innovation Festival and I think there is a real sense of that collaborative innovation across the water sector. I'm not as convinced that we're seeing that in all parts of the utilities sector. We need to look at stitching the whole supply chain back together and ensuring that there's collaboration all the way along. And that's right through to what's happening in the house. We need Facing frontline challenges with collaborative innovation Over six pages, Utility Week writers report on some of the key stories to emerge from the conference that ran alongside the UK's biggest utility exhibition, Utility Week Live 2022. to be heading towards the connected home. But that's going to need more than just collaboration in small units, it has to be collaboration across a community. JW: Do you worry about the focus on affordability detracting from the need for utilities to innovate? AC: That's come up quite a bit hasn't it but I've been really reassured by how people have answered it. Sul Alli at UK Power Networks talked about having a product mindset. That's really important because while people are going to be affected by the macro-economic environment, they are still going to have to make choices and we're going to need smarter innovation cycles to identify unmet needs and develop products for them. James Wallin, editor Aimie Chapple, CEO, Capita Experience

• Cover