New Report Shows U.S. Water Utilities Sector Still in Early Stages of Digital Transformation
March 18 2021 - 8:35AM
Business Wire
Findings highlight how data and technology
resources will serve as critical assets to improve future
efficiencies and operational performance.
Water utilities have been chronically underfunded for decades
and an estimate from the American Water Works Association found
that a $1 trillion investment is needed to meet the drinking water
system needs in the U.S. To better understand how this industry is
leveraging digital capabilities to its benefit in order to address
these historical challenges, Dodge Data & Analytics and partner
Bentley launched a new study and report titled, The Digital
Capabilities of US Water Utilities SmartMarket Brief, which
established a benchmark for municipal water systems and the
readiness of this market for digital transformation. The findings
showed that the ability to gather, share and analyze data and other
digital resources are essential to improving the effectiveness of
operations and maintenance, capital planning, and emergency
preparedness and will play a significant role in digital
transformation and their future capabilities.
While water utilities clearly understand the value of data, and
87% report that they gather data digitally, 50% of all respondents
believe that they are gathering less than half of the data
available to them. In addition, two common issues prevent them from
conducting their work efficiently across their organizations:
- 90% say that data is either isolated in disconnected IT
systems, spreadsheets or paper records, which prevents effective
operations and maintenance at their organization on occasion (45%
say frequently)
- 68% report that lack of visibility across stakeholders
interferes with effective capital planning on occasion (43% say
frequently)
Nearly three quarters report that they are in the process of
digital transformation at their organization, demonstrating a
commitment to improving their digital capabilities. However, when
it comes to how engaged they are with eight different types of
digital capabilities, the findings indicate that they are still in
the early stages of that process.
- The strongest scores were tied to effective management and
sharing of data, but even in these categories, only 12% or fewer
report very good to excellent capabilities, around two-thirds have
moderate to good capabilities, and between one-quarter and
one-third still have limited to no capabilities.
- Gathering information in real-time whether directly from the
assets or from reality capture tools like drones and laser scanning
is a particular challenge, with around half reporting that they
have no or limited capabilities in these areas.
- Only about 4% report that they have digital twins in place
(i.e., a digital version of the asset with real-time data that can
be used for planning and operational purposes).
“In the four decades that we have been providing software-based
applications and guidance for water professionals, a lot has
changed. What hasn’t changed is this: the utilities that leverage
their technology best will serve their customers best,” says Gregg
Herrin, Vice President, water infrastructure at Bentley
Systems.
“Openness has been a driving focus for Bentley for many years,
which leads to flexibility, interoperability and scalability. That
helps make the technology accessible to the people who need it,
combining information from systems like GIS, SCADA, simulation
tools, and beyond to create, extend, and apply digital twins to
help make better decisions throughout the organization.”
To achieve their digital priorities and future potential, water
utilities need to overcome several challenges. While issues such as
data quality and quantity are a concern for 80% of respondents,
nearly as many are concerned about the lack of internal staff with
the necessary digital skills (74%) and resistance to change (70%).
In addition, when asked to consider the top means of advancing
their digital capabilities, respondents most frequently rank
increasing the skills of their staff and improving their
understanding of the value of digital capabilities among their top
three. Better technology is a distant fourth, suggesting that
improvement in these areas is focused more on people than on making
big technology investments at this time.
“We find consistently in our research that people are at the
heart of a successful adoption of new technology,” says Steve
Jones, Senior Director of Industry Insights for Dodge Data &
Analytics. “The technology is the tool, but as the case study
featured in the SmartMarket Brief reveals, the real value comes
from the insights it provides to help them to do their work more
effectively.”
The Digital Capabilities of US Water Utilities SmartMarket Brief
includes more detailed examination of the current status of many
operations and maintenance, capital planning and emergency
preparedness and response activities and functions, and helps to
benchmark the industry’s progress toward its digital future. The
report is available for free download at:
https://www.construction.com/toolkit/reports/Digital-Capabilities-of-US-Water-Utilities
About Dodge Data & Analytics: Dodge Data &
Analytics is North America’s leading provider of commercial
construction project data, market forecasting & analytics
services and workflow integration solutions for the construction
industry. Building product manufacturers, architects, engineers,
contractors, and service providers leverage Dodge to identify and
pursue unseen growth opportunities that help them grow their
business. On a local, regional or national level, Dodge empowers
its customers to better understand their markets, uncover key
relationships, size growth opportunities, and pursue specific sales
opportunities with success. The company’s construction project
information is the most comprehensive and verified in the industry.
Dodge is leveraging its more than 125-year-old legacy of continuous
innovation to help the industry meet the building challenges of the
future. Learn more at www.construction.com.
About Bentley:
Bentley Systems (Nasdaq: BSY) is the infrastructure engineering
software company. We provide innovative software to advance the
world’s infrastructure – sustaining both the global economy and
environment. Our industry-leading software solutions are used by
professionals, and organizations of every size, for the design,
construction, and operations of roads and bridges, rail and
transit, water and wastewater, public works and utilities,
buildings and campuses, and industrial facilities. Our offerings
include MicroStation-based applications for modeling and
simulation, ProjectWise for project delivery, AssetWise for asset
and network performance, and the iTwin platform for infrastructure
digital twins. Bentley Systems employs more than 4,000 colleagues
and generates annualized revenues of more than $800 million in 172
countries. www.bentley.com
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Media Contacts: Christine Byrne | Bentley Systems | +1
203 805 0432, Christine.Byrne@bentley.com and Nicole Sullivan |
AFFECT Public Relations & Social Media | +1-212-398-9680,
nsullivan@affectstrategies.com
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