Ordnance Survey (OS) has extended its close working relationship with Northumbrian Water Group (NWG). The two organisations have worked closely for years, but now both parties have consolidated the arrangement after committing to a further five years together.
Extending the relationship will bring some long-term stability around pricing and develop strategic opportunities through consultancy and extended technical support.
The agreement will provide greater operational efficiency and assist in delivering cost savings, helping NWG to maximise the value they get from OS location and addressing data.
OS’s Head of OS Connect, Chris Tagg, said:
“Our data underpins a lot of NWGs business operations and helps to make sure the day-to day running of its business works.
“Historically we have been happy to be a data provider. But NWG recognise that we can be more than that and the mechanism to do that is this contract.
“The next step is for NWG to draw upon the services and expertise we can offer whether that’s through consultancy, through extended technical support, or through the application of data science and our own innovation teams.”
He added: “We are moving the relationship on to being one of a trusted advisor, so we can engineer some real value from the investment NWG has already made in OS data.
“The water sector, utilities sector, indeed the whole energy and infrastructure sector, is facing some huge challenges and through trusted location data we want to support it as much as we can, whether that’s through connecting data and information, mapping assets or providing vital information to help vulnerable customers.”
Nigel Watson, Information Services Director at Northumbrian Water, added: “We have worked with Ordnance Survey now for many years on a plethora of different innovative projects – including our flagship National Underground Asset Register.
“OS’s involvement in our annual Innovation Festival has provided us with many fruitful ideas set to make real-life impacts on our customers, and so we are thrilled that this trusted partnership will be continuing.”
OS and NWG have supported each other successfully for years. NWG ran a series of Innovation Festivals where collaborations between both parties gave birth to the National Underground Assets Register (NUAR), now a Crown owned project, and the Priority Services Register (PSR), which makes sure extra help is available to customers in vulnerable situations.
OS provides NWG with AddressBase Premium datasets to assist with validating customers and billing them using UPRN (Unique Property Reference Number). Other uses for OS data included helping visualise assets across the NWG network, planning operations for fitting smart meters, and addressing blockages and leaks in the network.
The new contract will allow for professional service days – where OS and NWG will work closely together in identifying and delivering projects to help improve Customer Service, operational efficiency and health & safety across the business.
Additionally, OS will be helping NWG with its GIS platform transformation.
