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UTILITY WEEK | 2ND - 8TH JUNE 2017 | 27 Customers Sponsored by customer profiles – each with a distinct set of vulnerabilities, both short and long term. Not all groups leapt to technology or digitised customer journeys as a first choice when thinking about how to better serve their vulnerable individuals. But it was agreed that in most cases technology could be used to enable utilities to understand how different pressures or worries in customers' lives impact their behaviours, and their use of energy and water. As Kishor Gowdra, global head of solu- tions at Wipro, pointed out: "You don't know what you can't see. We need to fully under- stand the problem of customer vulnerability, then you can offer a solution." The agenda for the day ranged across a broad variety of topics, including demand- side response and the challenges around engaging industrial and commercial custom- ers in the process of transforming our energy system. It also included a popular presenta- tion from Innovate UK's Jonny Voon, who sought to demystify blockchain and its possi- ble relevance to utilities (see column, right). Underlying most sessions, however, was an awareness that no matter how ambitious innovation teams may feel within utilities, the sector environment demands sensitiv- ity to negative perceptions and mistrust of companies. The day closed with a debate about the impact of automation – including the intro- duction of chatbots and smart switching services – on this thorny issue of trust and customer engagement with utilities. While hope won out, with most agree- ing that automation will be an overall force for good in customer experience, significant concerns were expressed about the scope for damaging experiences, increased mistrust and the creation of a faceless industry. As utilities of all kinds seek to build better and smarter relationships with their custom- ers, they must think creatively about how to understand them better and apply technol- ogy to this challenge with sensitivity and transparency. This need is even more acute when it comes to vulnerable customers. T he digital ecosystems of utilities are transforming at an unparalleled rate. We need to make sure that efforts to evolve and innovate in this new world benefit all the players in the energy and water indus- tries – in particular, vulnerable customers. To achieve this, we rely on understanding the needs of vulnerable consumers, and cre- ating services and programmes to assist them – services which they must have confidence in. Technology is a tool which can be used to improve our understanding of customer habits, lifestyle and vulnerabil- ity. It can help identify those in most need of help and clarify what kind of help will make the biggest difference to them as individuals. Connected devices, mobile technology and digitisation of customer journeys will all sound familiar now to utilities who have been trying to improve their customer experience in recent years. They are certainly areas on which Wipro has worked closely with utilities, in the UK and around the world. But new and emerging technologies for delivering bespoke and secure customer experiences could be additional game changers. For example, blockchain. There is a lot of excitement across industries about how dis- tributed ledger technologies like blockchain could solve a wide range of problems for service providers. But there is also a lot of confusion about what the technology actually is. Put simply, blockchain is a virtual "distributed ledger" that forms a secure, time-stamped record of transactions, validated by multiple nodes in a network. This is important because it has the scope to resolve long- standing issues that utilities face in keeping track of the status of any single customer as they dip in and out of so-called transient vulnerability at differ- ent stages of their lives. For example, a utility might want to establish a blockchain network involving healthcare "nodes", banking nodes and social services nodes, in order to identify whether a customer meets a range of criteria for pri- ority services or a social tariff. The last block in a cus- tomer's blockchain record could give a utility an indisputable and up-to-date attestation as to whether a customer was cur- rently vulnerable – have they recently seen a doctor about a recurring chest infection? Are they in debt? Are they in receipt of housing benefits or other social support? Blockchain technology could verify the status of things like this, without necessarily having to pass sensitive data, or rights to access sensitive data, down the chain. It can then present a binary "yes/no" answer on the current vulnerability status of a customer to the utility. It is an inherently secure and hard to fool system. At Wipro, we are working with a range of different types of utilities to help them under- stand how blockchain might fit into their developing digital eco- systems. Already we are seeing a promising range of applications where the technology can over- come big challenges around cus- tomer confidence, data integrity and security. Through our work with Utility Week and the Technology and Innovation Council, we look for- ward to discovering more such opportunities. Arun Krishnamurthi, Wipro Column Arun Krishnamurthi, Wipro Adopting new technologies, such as blockchain, can open the door to bespoke solutions and better service. The future of utilities Look out for new research from Utility Week and Wipro exploring the future of utilities. Senior industry experts have told us what they think the biggest forces for change will be in their organisations in the next five years and beyond with regards to three key areas: customers; skills; and technology. The research will be published in the autumn and presented at an open doors dinner for Technology and Innovation Council members, and the wider industry.