Innovators from the worlds of water and technology descended upon Chelmsford yesterday (THUR) as Essex & Suffolk Water hosted its second annual Innovation Festival.
The event, which is a sister event to Northumbrian Water’s Innovation Festival, saw creative minds coming together in order to solve some of the industry’s biggest problems.
Almost 200 innovators put their brains together at the water company’s office at Sandon Valley House to look at topics such as supporting vulnerable customers, making smarter water habits and tackling algal blooms.
Teams grouped together to take part in three “sprints” – which are a workshop-style activity aimed at generating ideas in a productive way.
The sprints were:
· Blooming Algae: Predicting and Preventing to Power Operations – focusing on how to predict algal blooms and stop them before they become a problem.
· Smart Water Habits: Savings that Last- exploring how smart data and emerging technology can drive lasting behaviour change in household water use to reduce water waste.
· Right Help, Right Now: Real-time Support for Vulnerable Customers – looking at how more meaningful ‘in the moment’ support can be given to vulnerable customers during emergencies.
As part of the successful event, the attendees were inspired by guest speaker, comedian and author Tim Fitzhigham – who talked about how he paddled a paper boat down the Thames as part of a world record. He also challenged innovators to be “wacky” in their ideas, and face up to failure.
Some of the ideas generated from the festival will be taken to the Newcastle-based Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival in July in order to be further progressed.
As well as the sprints taking place, the innovators also saw an impressive showcase of past Innovation Festival successes – including the Water Cookbook, which helps to revolutionize asset design and No Dig, which helps to reduce leakage by using inventive ‘self-healing’ technology.
Kieran Ingram, Water Director at Essex & Suffolk Water, said: “Across our region here we have so many fantastic innovators, and it was fantastic to host them here and put them to the test with each of the sprints.
“The sprints are a great way to make sure that we are continually improving for our customers, and doing everything we can to provide the best service possible – whether this is through our contact centre or directly with our water supply.
“Within our business we have already seen some fantastic innovations coming out of Essex, including Mowbis and Towbis, which help to keep the water flowing for customers when there is an interruption to supply.
“I can’t wait to see how these ideas continue to develop at our summertime festival later in the year.”
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