Northumbrian Water has announced that it’s becoming a founding member of the Industry Data for Society Partnership (IDSP), along with GitHub, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, LinkedIn, Microsoft, R2 Factory and UK Power Networks.
The group has formed the first-of-its-kind cross-industry partnership to help make private-sector data more open and accessible – with Northumbrian Water the only water company included.
By sharing information such as energy consumption, generation and efficiency data, the partnership hopes to better visualise and understand how to address global challenges, such as advancing environmental sustainability and inclusive economic growth.
As well as sharing best practices, the IDSP will also serve as a forum to engage with researchers, academics, non-profits, and the public sector in putting private-sector data to work.
Nigel Watson, Northumbrian Water Group’s Information Services Director, said: “At Northumbrian Water, we firmly believe in the power of data and have a long track record of using data to fuel innovation.
“Since our first open, annual Innovation festival back in 2017, we have run almost 200 sprints, hackathons and data dashes and most of these have been powered by data from our own company along with that of our peers and partners.
“We know that there is more we can do and so we are incredibly excited to be an active member of this new partnership. We are looking forward to not only increasing the impact we can have together in addressing societal and environmental challenges but also to share our learning to help others do the same.”
Northumbrian Water is already helping to lead the way when it comes to streamlining the way data is shared, through a collaborative initiative with ten other water companies, named the Stream Project, which aims to open up water sector data.
The company also continues to work alongside the Geospatial Commission to create an interactive, digital map of underground pipes and cables that will revolutionise the way buried infrastructure is installed, maintained, operated and repaired – an idea which stemmed from the company’s Innovation Festival in 2018.
To learn more about the IDSP and its efforts, visit www.industrydataforsociety.com.
