Dutch water wants to move beyond dipping its toes into big data pool

Making sense of big data

Van Erp and Van der Putten are drawing up research questions that can be answered using data from the organisation. Van Erp said the ultimate information for the organisation is data that tells it when a conveying pipe is likely to break.

“This is almost impossible to predict, but we can approach it with the right questions. As we become more willing and able to measure and combine data, we can generate knowledge.”

The challenge remains to make all those terabytes of data manageable. To this end, Brabant Water teamed up with consultancy firm Nelen & Schuurmans and research institute KWR. Together, the organisations are working out how the data – which Brabant Water has collected in recent years – can be used to generate knowledge.

“We need to look at the connection between complaints received in our customer contact centre and – for example – the pressure generated at one of our stations. We want to create algorithms that can then work with real-time data to detect things early.”

Dealing with data

The ultimate goal is to better serve customers based on the knowledge coming from the data collected. Traditionally, the product that Brabant Water supplies – drinking water – is at the core of the business, but the customer is becoming increasingly important.

“This requires a shift in thinking and in the way we work,” said Van der Putten. He added that, while technology is not a barrier, the implementation of a big data strategy mainly involves people.

“There are a number of employees in the organisation who see the trend and importance of big data, but there are also some that will need more time to get used to a different way of working.” A good next step is to install a business intelligence (BI) department, he added.

Concerns around data security

Another aspect Brabant Water is struggling with is security, with privacy issues and the location where data is stored being concerns.

“Security is high on our agenda, which is good, but that can be difficult in some cases for the business,” said Van der Putten. “We will need to find our way together with IT.”

In the UK, security is seen as a hindrance in its GB Smart Metering Implementation Programme, which plans to put 53 million smart meters in homes and businesses in the UK by 2019 as part of a programme to reduce energy consumption.

This programme is expected to face a major challenge due to customer concerns, as research showed that consumers believe smart meters will capture too much personal information and will be vulnerable to cyber attack.

Brabant has its own challenge winning over customers. According to Van Erp and Van der Putten, the smart meters that assist enterprise customers offer many opportunities to gather and analyse data, but the company needs to provide evidence.

“We first want to show the use of the data that is released to the utility before we focus on a major link with the production and distribution arm. If we have concrete information, we can get out of all that data – and show how we can improve our service – and we can continue to roll out.”