08 Dec 2021
2 MIN READ

“The Power of Data” – Water Working Group

On Friday 3rd December 2021 we ran our second Gentrack Water Working Group, following on from our inaugural February 2021 event.  

The theme for Friday’s meeting was “The Power of Data” and data-driven decision making. This is a hot topic for our Australian Water customers as they transform their businesses from being asset-centric to customer-centric.  

We kicked the day off with two customer presentations from Power & Water (PWC) and Hunter Water presenting to the attendees.  

The presentations were well received by the attendees and covered:  

  • Educating customers to use less of a scarce resource through analytics  
  • Addressing decreased revenue and using data to become more cost efficient 
  • Self Service Portals 
  • Customer Persona’s and the use of online services 
  • Electronic Bill distribution and timing of payments received 

The final 40 minutes featured an executive session with a key-note speech from Karlene Maywold, ex Minister for Water Security in the South Australian government and now Chair of WaterAid Australia. Karlene spoke about the need for local knowledge to inform their projects in developing countries using Papua New Guinea and Nepal as examples.  

Katherine Gee, Executive Manager of Customer and Community at Unity Water, participated in a Fireside chat session with Matt Rouse, Gentrack Head of Water Business Unit discussing analytics, sustainability and water use.

The session also included presentations from Matt, on Gentrack’s analytics roadmap, Gentrack COO, Zeev Berkowitz on our approach to the Water Industry, and the Smart Water Network (SWAN), an industry group of like-minded water companies and vendors which Gentrack joined in October. 

While the theme suggested systems, data and processes are becoming more prevalent for Water organisations the key takeaway was the importance of focusing on people.  

Firstly, as the beneficiary of analytics and improved customer experience and secondly, the importance of understanding your user base when dealing with different socio-economic groups of customers who may or may not interact with online platforms and self-service tools.  

Overall, it was an informative session with robust discussions on data solutions in the water industry and a conversation we will continue with our customers.  

The session concluded with Gentrack donating to WaterAID on behalf of all attendees.  

Our next working group is planned for June/July 2022.  

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