WSAA is pleased to announce that Stage 2 of the W-Lab technology program has now been completed, following a series of on-line “Launch Pads”.
The Launch Pads were a follow up to the Digital Ideation Summit held in June.
WSAA Executive Director Adam Lovell said “now that the first two stages of W-Lab have been successfully completed, Isle Utilities and ThinkPlace will create a Technology Roadmap which will be a blueprint to guide the water industry in the identification and evaluation of innovative technologies to enable the industry to embrace change and foster resilience both now and into the future.
“The W-Lab strategy is being driven from the bottom-up through the W-Lab members and their specific requirements. Utilities large and small have had a voice, which will mean that the solutions being developed will be tailored to Australian and New Zealand water utilities and to utility size, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
“W-Lab membership numbers now stand at 34 and with the recent addition of WaterNZ and the Orana Alliance, there are now 100 water utilities and councils under the W-Lab banner.
Mr Lovell added, “feedback from the Launch Pad sessions has been overwhelmingly positive. They have created an ideal situation for WSAA members to collaborate and to share their views.
Dr Alex Cech, Chief Technology Officer at Isle Utilities (Asia-Pacific) said, "the Ideation Summit built initial momentum for the W-Lab program, assembling an impressive human resource of skill, experience and knowledge from 100 people, with a clear goal to use technology innovation to create a new water future and to build something quite special for the water industry.
“The subsequent Launch Pads have refined the path that Australian and New Zealand water utilities wish to take and has defined some of the specific challenges that water utilities of all sizes wish to overcome.
“The Roadmap will create a direction to allow the eventual assessment and filtering of innovative technologies and will present solutions to help WSAA members to make confident decisions in four defined innovation frames - Customer, Enterprise, Flows and Nature.
“The discovery of the individual requirements and the specific challenges of the local utilities through the W-Lab program will enable Isle Utilities and ThinkPlace to use their global reach to create bespoke solutions for the Australian water sector.
“It’s a very exciting time”, added Dr Cech.
If your organisation is yet to sign up and you’re interested in finding out more please contact Victoria Allen.
25 Aug 2020
