WSAA partnership set to deliver water innovation for Australia and New Zealand
- June 3, 2020
- Posted by: Elaine Coles
- Category: Companies, Technology & Innovation, Australasia
A new partnership between the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), technology and business consultancy Isle and change-making consultancy ThinkPlace is set to deliver an industry-leading innovative technologies programme.
Some 23 WSAA members have already signed up for the W-Lab programme which launched in March 2020.
Adam Lovell, executive director of WSAA commented:
“W-Lab has the potential to launch WSAA and our members into a global network which will drive innovative technological solutions to overcome future industry challenges. W-Lab will offer even more opportunities for utilities to collaborate through access to Isle’s global database of technologies from industry sectors all over the world and I would encourage all of our WSAA members to participate in our W-Lab programme.”
Dr Alex Cech, chief technology officer at Isle Utilities (Asia-Pacific) added:
“Our unique global partnership experts work with 350 water businesses and more than 6,500 technology providers worldwide. Our local team will work closely and collaboratively with water utilities of all shapes, sizes and localities across Australia and New Zealand.
“We use well-founded design-thinking tools to understand current and upcoming challenges, as well as to visualise what an ideal future state could look like. We then identify, evaluate and present innovative technological solutions to overcome these challenges. This process empowers our network to make confident decisions for their collective future.”
Dr Nicola Nelson, manager, science, research and innovation at Sydney Water said that W-Lab will raise awareness of technology options for the Australian and New Zealand water industry and facilitate technology adoption, with the overarching aim of improving customer experience and value.
“By leveraging this technology innovation across different sectors, we can find new ways to optimise our own operations, which will enable Sydney Water and other utilities to deliver world class water solutions to our customers.” she added.
Preparation is underway for a Digital Ideation Summit to be hosted entirely online from 11-15 of June 2020. The purpose of the Summit is to engage all members across the Australian and New Zealand water industry to build a Technology Roadmap. This blueprint will guide the industry in the identification and evaluation of innovative technologies which will enable the industry to embrace change and foster resilience both now and into the future.
Isle and ThinkPlace have a specialised team of 100 across Australia and New Zealand and a global team of 200 spanning six continents and 13 countries. According to Dr Nina Terrey, founder and global partner at ThinkPlace, the team’s breadth of experience means it is big enough to give water utilities access to global innovation experience and capabilities, and small enough to provide local context.