An inside look at water’s digital transformation
Digital solutions hold the key to solving some of the biggest water challenges of our time, from water scarcity to affordability to resilience. To help utilities make the most of their digital opportunity, Xylem spoke with 18 global utility leaders and experts, gathering their insights and “pulling back the curtain” on going digital in a paper called the Ripple Effect: A Movement Towards Digital Transformation. Hear from four Ripple Effect contributors:
1. What the water sector can learn from other sectors’ digital journeys
Water and wastewater utilities are deploying digital solutions at an ever-accelerating pace to address the world’s growing water challenges. What can the water sector learn from the digital success stories and setbacks of other industries? Sai Allavarpu, Xylem’s Chief Digital Officer, spoke with Dave McGimpsey of the Water Values podcast about how other sectors, including healthcare, financial and aerospace, have moved up the digital transformation curve and how their experiences can benefit water operators.
“There’s a lot to learn from other industries that started their digital journey sooner than the water sector. The good thing is they have already tested and proved the transformational power of digital technologies whether that is cloud data, AI or sensors – even in highly regulated environments.” Hear the podcast.
2. How a digital working culture can transform utility operations
Digitalization has proven to be a vital tool in building collaboration across teams to deliver compelling results. Ir. Abas Abdullah, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Pengurusan Air Selangor Sendirian Berhad (Air Selangor), Malaysia’s largest water utility, breaks down the essential role of smart technologies in tackling complex challenges and transforming operations.
“We have a lot of data, a lot of information, but we need it to be meaningful – we have to be able to connect the dots. To do this, we have established new data-focused teams that cut across existing functional groups, with capabilities including a digital analytics center and an intelligent command center.” Read more.
3. How digital twin technology can help water utilities ride the digital wave
Advances in technology, such as digital twins, are enabling breakthrough solutions, and delivering transformative outcomes for communities. For some utilities, this game-changing technology is powering a whole new level of operational resiliency. For others, it may not be going the distance to deliver data-led insights and decision intelligence.
Michele Samuels, Global Practice Manager of Asset Performance at Xylem, shares her perspective on how utilities can best leverage digital twins to make incremental improvements and move from ripple to wave. Read more.
4. What utilities can do to avoid data overload
While there are many paths to digitalization, there are also pitfalls. Oliver Grievson, Chair of the IWA Digital Water Program, has vast experience working with utilities. Grievson outlines how utilities can seize their digital moment without being overwhelmed by too much information.
“An asset manager or planner needs information that breaks down data silos and pulls from various sources such as GIS, SCADA and financial models. The result you want is something that can help you make investment decisions and ultimately improve the overall operations. That data doesn’t need to be instantaneous, but it does need to inform broader decision-making.” Read more.
Read the full Ripple Effect paper.
Learn more about digital transformation from Xylem President and CEO Matthew Pine.