Realizing the Digital Potential for the Water Industry New survey shows top priorities for digital transformation Antony Bourne Today's water and wastewater utilities face a variety of challenges, including decreasing water supply, growing and shifting populations, and increasing pollutants. Utilizing effective management techniques is crucial to the efficient use of water, sustainable treatment, and adequate quantity. Business intelligence and performance metrics play a large role in creating efficient processes for the water industry (including the companies they work with, such as manufacturers, consultants, government agencies, etc.), which relies on the use of digital technology to optimize operations. This includes metrics such as customer satisfaction, operational optimization, community sustainability, infrastructure stability, and many other factors. Digital transformation (DT) is finally coming of age. In the recent digital change survey commissioned by IFS covering 750 professionals across a range of industries, 80 percent saw themselves as “enabled,” “enhanced,” or “optimized” to leverage DT. Even more impressively, 89 percent said they had “advantageous” or “adequate” funding in place for digital projects—a clear acknowledgment
that the time of disruptive technologies is here, and that the vast majority of firms are realizing that they need to invest. But why are businesses investing? Where do they see the big profits? And how successfully are they selling digital change throughout their organizations? Water and wastewater utilities need to transform themselves so that they can access the benefits that digital technology provides. This transformation touches many different parts of the water business, including: S Customer service S Operations and maintenance S Asset management S Project delivery and procurement S Regulatory and strategic planning S Communications and engagement
Companies Need to Look Beyond Quick Efficiency Gains The survey found that over a quarter (27 percent) of companies say digital transformation “makes them more competitive,” giving them a vital differentiating edge. Twenty-nine percent see the main benefit as “accelerating innovation” and 28 percent see “growth op-
portunities in new markets.” All these are inspiring companies using digital transformation to ask far-reaching strategic questions (“Can I use digital transformation to get myself a bigger share of the market, or increase my product portfolio?”) and make the most of the long-term, strategic opportunities of the technology. They’re sensing how it can transform even seemingly small tactical decisions (“How often do I service my equipment and how does this impact my customers and my competitiveness?”) into key strategic differentiators. But these companies are still in the minority. The largest group in the survey (47 percent) still see the main benefits of DT as “improving internal process efficiencies,” which brings up another question: Do companies really see the full potential of what disruptive technologies can achieve? Innovation can make or break a company, and study after study foregrounds it as a C-suite priority. So why doesn’t it appear to be a driver for digital transformation? Considering technology investments, this could mean that the majority of funds are invested in making internal processes more effective and thereby failing to enable innovation. Seeing “improved internal efficiency” as the key reason to explore DT is, to many, short-sighted. It fails to exploit the strategic benefits and makes it more difficult to win the understanding and commitment of the staff.
Winning Hearts and Minds: Overcoming Fear of Change Despite plenty of good news, the survey still reveals that 42 percent of respondents view aversion to change as the main barrier to digital transformation. Companies need to think carefully about how they position the Internet of Things (IoT) and other disruptive technologies, how they tell the story of why they are using them, and how they communicate the benefits to their entire workforce— transforming staff from “dataphobes” to data fans. The most successful technology shifts are embraced from the bottom up, as well as the top down—they’re all driven by people. The buy-in from staff is mission-critical and the
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October 2017 • Florida Water Resources Journal