Utility Power & Water
It is expected that the global population will blow up to 9.7 billion people by 2050, prompting innovators to produce more with less resources. As the water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector keeps on facing increased pressure due to climate change impacts, governments will likely need to strengthen the sector’s sustainability and resilience.
Innovations in technology will play a vital role in water efficiency, utility operations, scarcity and safety, monitoring and treatment, and data and analytics in the future. Entrepreneurs across the world are already seeing an increased willingness of utilities and businesses to test and implement promising technologies, including the following:
1) Remote water sensing that can significantly help in accounting of water, non-revenue water remediation, and more; and
2) Internet of Things that will not only enable smart water quality control and irrigation but also allows us to implement complex models for the management of water when coupled with better computing capacity.
By working with companies that provide the latest technological innovations in the water sector, such efforts will be accelerated. The World Bank and water innovation accelerator Imagine H2O showcased 14 water technology businesses and their promising products and services in a recent virtual event called Water Online Week.
Many of the businesses highlighted in the World Bank’s recent webinar are currently or have previously been part of the accelerator programs of Imagine H2O. They offer technologies that can help utility companies serve customers digitally, utilize distributed technology, empower farmers to make smart decisions, and remotely manage water resources in real time, thus expanding water and wastewater services to the underserved communities.
With that, it is clear that integrating various innovations in technology is becoming more vital in the utility industry. To create efficient water management systems and utility operations, data and analytics should become the basis of decisions moving forward.
Fortunately, many global entrepreneurs are starting to get more interested in seeing utility companies test and adopt the emerging technologies in water nowadays, including remote sensing and Internet of Things. These two fundamental technologies, when paired with new computing capacity, can easily allow companies to develop more complex models for managing water.
To make this vision a reality, players in the utility sector should begin working with companies that provide the latest technological innovations.
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