Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/807744
26 | 7TH - 13TH APRIL 2017 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Analysis U tilities are not generally thought of as natural innovators. Typically large, low risk companies, they have many of the hallmarks of old-fashioned busi- ness, including rigid hierarchies in decision making. According to a group of senior utilities employees, however, this is changing. In a regular barometer of industry inno- vation confidence, Utility Week asked a pan- utility group of 15 technology and innovation leaders a range of questions to try and gauge the strategic importance being placed on innovation in the sector and to understand how companies are adjusting to reflect this. Nine of the group said that their organi- sation now has a clear innovation strategy to guide its activities and experiments. Fur- thermore, it seems that boardroom backing for innovation is translating into financial support, with nine barometer participants saying they are happy with the level of investment being made in innovation. Confidence in the maturity of innova- tion culture in utilities was also found to be relatively high. On average, the group rated innovation culture with 3.5 out of a possible 5. Two contributors, both from energy net- works, gave their organisations full marks for maturity in innovation culture. In terms of the technologies which the group felt will enable most innovation in the sector over the next five years, the Inter- net of Things and artificial intelligence were favourites, followed by robotics and aug- mented or virtual reality. These indications of confidence and enthusiasm for change from leaders who are close to organisational transformation agendas should reassure sector stakeholders who will be uncomfortably aware of the pres- sure bearing down on utilities to adapt their operations, processes, and infrastructure by adopting to technologies and smarter ways of working. However, responses to other questions show that the sector still has some way to go before it can cast off its stereotype of stag- nant traditionalism. Despite the high rating on innovation culture, most of the group also expressed doubts about the effectiveness of internal schemes designed to incentivise innovation. Likewise, they had reservations about the usefulness of innovation success metrics. Furthermore, as utilities move forward into a critical time of transformation – as a result of deregulation, social and politi- cal pressure and technological advance – the future of innovation is uncertain. Ten of the group said they were concerned or "extremely" concerned about the availabil- ity of staff with appropriate innovation skills who can build on the foundations of early projects and investigations. Tackling these remaining weaknesses is important, especially in an environment of increasing customer expectation and politi- cal scrutiny. Collaboration and best practice sharing could help to overcome innovation barriers and deliver the final elements of innovation maturity the sector sorely needs. Innovation insight The Utility Week-Wipro Innovation Barometer uses a panel of senior utility employees to take the temperature of innovation confidence in the sector. Jane Gray reports. The Innovation Barometer Utility Week's regular Innovation Barometer is part of a wider set of activities exploring innovation sentiment across utilities. It is carried out under the banner of the Utility Week-Wipro Technology and Innovation Coun- cil, a group of senior utilities employees with responsibility for technological transforma- tion or innovation. HOW CONCERNED ARE YOU ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY OF STRONG INNOVATION SKILLS ON YOUR ORGANISATION? Answered: 15 Skipped: 0 DO YOU BELIEVE YOUR COMPANY INVESTS ENOUGH IN INNOVATION? Answered: 15 Skipped: 0 Extremely concerned Somewhat concerned Neither concerned nor unconcerned Unconcerned 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Answer choices Responses No. Extremely concerned 13.33 2 Somewhat concerned 53.33 8 Neither concerned nor unconcerned 20.0 3 Unconcerned 13.33 2 Total 15 Answer choices Responses No. Yes 60.0 9 No 40.0 6 Total 15