Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 12TH - 18TH JANUARY 2018 | 21 Policy & Regulation Market view O ver the years, the utilities sector has not been famed for its technological prowess nor its ability to adapt to new and growing trends. But with technology quickly transforming the world around us, utilities have been under increasing pressure to adapt and embrace innovation. At the forefront of this scrutiny are regula- tors such as Ofwat. David Black, senior direc- tor at Ofwat, stated back in May 2017 that the lack of innovation in the water sector was "striking", and labelled companies as "too passive and happy with the status quo". In an attempt to drive forward innovation within the water sector, Ofwat announced that for its 2019 price review (PR19) innova- tion will be one of the four key areas it will reward businesses on. Those water compa- nies choosing to ignore this ambition will be faced with the potential of heavy fines. Neither is it just Ofwat driving innovation. Ofgem has also taken steps to encourage greater levels of innovation within the gas and electricity sector and launched Innova- tion Link at the end of 2016 – a dedicated service that aims to encourage and support businesses to transform their products and services. The foundations are currently being put in place to encourage businesses within the utilities sectors to embrace technology. Now is the time for them to move into the 21st century and start embracing innovative tech- nologies to reduce costs and create greater efficiencies. Improving communication by embracing cloud technology Communication plays a huge role within the utilities sector, primarily because large projects oen require workers and profes- sionals from several disciplines, and with different skills sets, to collaborate. But with people working from various locations and out in the field, this can make com- municating across departments difficult or impossible. Cloud computing can help to make communication easier and more efficient, because workers can access any documents via the cloud from their smartphone, from anywhere and at any time. Job sheets and project information can be sent between col- leagues, allowing for improved communica- tion. And tasks can be completed quickly, efficiently and to the required standards of the project specification. It also helps work- ers to operate in a compliant manner by ensuring that they can follow the most up- to-date working practices and regulations via guidance on their mobile device. Given that the utilities sector is already under immense pressure to cut costs and improve efficiencies, adopting cloud-based solutions will help save time and money by eliminating project delays and improving cross-department communication. Reducing costs by using digital data capture applications For most workers in the utilities sector, work- ing remotely is part of the job – as is deal- ing with piles of paperwork. But the use of paper documents is far from ideal. Not only is it easy for them to be lost, they can also be easily damaged and, in some instances, incorrectly filed. The outcomes of poor docu- ment management oen include time wasted searching for missing information and infor- mation being miscommunicated. It can also lead to more serious issues, including incom- plete audit trails or compliancy issues. We recently conducted research that found 53 per cent of employees find it hard to store paper files and keep them organ- ised. As a result, almost a fih (19 per cent) of workers have seen vital information filed incorrectly, which has led to tangible losses to the business including customers leaving to competitors. But technological solutions have been created to remove reliance on paper. In fact, there are now a variety of digital data capture solutions that not only simplify data pro- cesses and storage, but also allow for data to be collected more accurately and efficiently. These data capture services allow users to access digital versions of documents from either a smartphone, tablet or laptop and allow data to be captured in real time from any location. The data collated can then be saved within the cloud and accessed by any member of the on-site or off-site teams. This means data capture can remove the need for paper documents and all the issues associ- ated with them. Most importantly, it can also help to make workers' lives easier by remov- ing the risk of losing or damaging docu- ments, both in the office and out in the field. With the utilities sector coming under increasing pressure to embrace new technol- ogy, there is no better time to adopt readily- available and proven solutions, such as data capture, cloud computing and smartphone devices to improve its existing operating processes. In an industry where competitive advantage is key to survival, adopting such technologies can give businesses the edge they need to be successful. Colin Yates, chief support officer, WorkMobile Mobile tech drivers Colin Yates looks at some of the easy wins that mobile technologies can offer utilities to help increase efficiency, cut costs and satisfy regulatory demands that they pursue innovation. Key points Regulators are increasingly demanding that utilities be innovative. Cloud computing offers effective commu- nications on large projects. Cloud computing helps support and police compliance. The speed and efficiency of cloud solu- tions can help reduce costs. Data capture technologies can obviate the need to use paper. Digital information is easier and cheaper to store, access and organise than paper records. Paper records are prone to inaccuracy and can easily be misplaced. Digital data can be accessed on a multi- tude of different platforms, at any time.

• Cover