Utility Week Live

Q: How innovative would you say UK utilities are compared with other sectors Wipro works with? There are pockets of innova- tion in the sector, but this contrasts with the wide-scale transformation we have seen in other sectors such as retail, banking and insurance, oil and gas and manufacturing. There are some key areas where utilities have been very innovative. For example, reputational risk and environ- mental regulation have resulted in innovation in the areas of compliance and reporting. Also, there has been inno- vation in the water sector to identify leakage and improve security of supply. Q: How innovative are UK utilities compared to utilities in other nations where Wipro operates? Our experience is that water utilities in Australia, the US and the Middle East generally look to the UK for leading practices and trends and so we would describe the UK as a leading global innovator, particularly when it comes to areas such as linear asset management and network monitoring. These systems can act as catalysts for innovative operations because they promote a single version of truth. Having said that, Australia leads in adopting remote asset management and smart metering. Q: Apart from looking to water industries in other locations, where else can UK utilities look for lessons in how to innovate? Some water utilities have already started to adopt best practices such as Lean and Six Sigma from the manufacturing sector to create step change and innovate for 'right first time' operations. Agile methodologies are also being adopted follow- ing their successful implementa- tion in the banking and retail sectors. Collaboration is important for inno- vation and we have a joint co-innovation forum with one water utility in UK where we explore innovation opportu- nities together. Q: Where should utilities focus their innovation efforts today to meet the challenges of the future? As we look ahead, the effects of market regulation, competition and customer focus will require utilities to be much more innovative in the way they deliver services and meet demanding business plans. Over the past two years many water utilities have begun to adopt the latest trends in technologies that have matured in other sectors such as digital, analytics, social, cloud and enterprise mobility. We are currently helping two water companies with digital adoption by focusing on getting the right information to the right person at the right time, through the right channel, for the right outcome. Digital channels are successfully providing improved collaboration with co-workers, customers, custodians and contractors. In the new regulatory period AMP6, totex will ensure innova- tion plays a much greater role in water. Furthermore, retail competition for non-household customers is bringing a para- digm shi in business models and customer approach. We are rising to this chal- lenge and have already provi- sioned the design, build and run services of central registration and settlement systems. We've been actively involved in market separation in Northern Ireland, so we've been able to learn from that experience. In the future, water utilities will need to increase their use of customer analytics to identify profitable custom- ers and to develop effective engage- ment strategies. Experience from Scottish market deregulation sug- gests that price is important. But the wholesale price has very little flexibility, so it is value-added services that will provide the USP between different retailers. Q: What are UK utilities' strengths when it comes to innovation and the uptake of new technologies? What are their weaknesses? There is an increasing relationship between innova- tion and regulation, which encourages UK utilities to use technology to reinvent the way they deliver their services and manage and operate their companies. However, many forms of innovation have a high depend- ency on asset data quality and we see variable quality of data across many geographies. Water utilities and their regulators are now encouraging the use of data to drive the right asset investment decisions. UTILITY WEEK | 15TH - 21ST MAY 2015 | 13 S P E C I A L R E P O RT / M AY 2 0 1 5 Produced in association with: 1. INNOVATION requires enthusiasm from leadership. 2. INNOVATION requires funding/investment. 3. INNOVATION requires time. 4. INNOVATION requires motive and reward. 5. INNOVATION needs embedding to create impact. FIVE KEY POINTS: What should utilities do? Sahadev Singh, global head of water utilities at Wipro talks to Utility Week about the challenge of spreading innovation in utilities. Q&A "The UK is seen abroad as a leading global innovator" SAHADEV SINGH, WIPRO "We are massively underinvesting in the pace of change." Cameron Hepburn, professor of environmental economics, Oxford University.

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