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Capula, a leader in advanced system integration, has launched a new consultancy service to accelerate the digitalisation and decarbonisation of the water industry.
The wrap-around proposition brings together business, digital and technical expertise to support the digital transformation of the sector and to grasp the opportunities of connected technologies, data and the cloud.
The consultancy service will be led by Neil White, an experienced software engineer, business manager and 20-year veteran at Capula with extensive experience working across energy sectors. He will be supported by a team of digitalisation specialists backed up by more than 320 automation control and IT engineers.
As a specialist in operational technology (OT) and the convergence of OT with IT, Capula’s service is designed to fast-track the planning, delivery and operation of OT and OT/IT programmes to be high-value, low-risk, outcome-focused, data-driven and scalable solutions.
Capula has adapted and applied proven IT methodologies to OT change programmes to design its unique Pentagon Approach, a five-step process to ensure the right first-time delivery of solutions which support business strategy and digital transformation.
Adopting current and emerging technologies like Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT) Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will give clients access to vast amounts of valuable industrial data for increasing efficiencies across power and energy plants and networks.
Having successfully delivered technology change programmes to the energy industry for half a century, and with the pace of digitalisation increasing, Capula is now applying its OT know-how and IT expertise to tackle the industry’s biggest challenges and opportunities.
Commenting on the launch of the new service, Simon Coombs, Managing Director of Capula, said: “New digital technologies coupled with the adoption of cloud services deliver value, new ways of working and demand a different approach to planning and operating.
“Data is capital with valuable potential. But you can only derive benefit from it when it is brought together and speaking the same language. By helping the energy industry capture, integrate and analyse the vast pools of valuable and often unused operational data that already exists, we can help achieve greater visualisation, better management and more valuable insights.
“That is where the convergence of OT and IT systems is essential.
“Our new consultancy leverages 50-years of know-how in operational technology and IT expertise to set a new gold standard in the delivery of OT/IT integration, underpinned by cybersecurity and aligned with sustainability goals.
“We are building technology bridges between technology, data, people and processes to make digital happen, helping industry embrace interconnectivity to make the most of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and prepare for the Fifth.”
Existing and emerging technologies can improve the flexibility of the UK energy system, help support the development of innovative products and services for consumers and play a leading role in helping the UK achieve Net Zero emissions targets.
The UK government estimates that by 2050, improved energy system flexibility through digitalisation could reduce the overall UK energy system costs by up to £10 billion annually and create up to 24,000 jobs.
Since 2007 Capula, headquartered in Stone, Staffordshire, has doubled in size achieving a £40 million turnover with 320 engineer-IT all-rounders working on change programmes for UK critical national infrastructure clients working in energy transmission, power generation and water industries.