Ofwat has urged water companies “not to wait” when it comes to innovation as the sector could risk getting left behind.
In the regulator’s final instalment of its digital campaign Spark! last week, Ofwat explored the need to innovate “now more than ever” with experts from a range of industries.
Rachel Fletcher, chief executive of Ofwat, said: “In a sense you cannot start too soon. Opportunities are being lost right now.
“There are future challenges, but there’s real-term opportunities to give customers a better experience when they call up or have a query with their bill.
“These are here and now improvements that can be made sometimes just by the simple adoption of a new approach that might be business as usual somewhere else.”
She said Ofwat wants the water sector to create the mindset of looking outwards and keeping an open mind about new ways of doing things.
Thérèse Coffey MP, environment minister, added: “I think the risk to the water companies in being left behind and not innovating now or identifying ways they can tackle things in an colloborative and innovative manner, is that their costs will dramatically increase and that’s not going to be passed on to customers.
“It’s absolutely imperative they are using all the levers they can. Of course, we are going to need ongoing investment in capital projects but collaboration and innovation will be key. Whether it’s about customer service, technology, the delivery of projects – there is no excuse and frankly water companies will simply not benefit if they are not prepared to innovate.”
Meanwhile, Mike Barry, director of sustainable business at Marks and Spencer suggested innovation has been a “lifeblood” for many businesses for decades.
“What’s different now is the sheer scale of innovation and the sheer scale of pressures we need to respond to.
“Economically, socially and environmentally there’s a great series of disruptions facing into us. You can be daunted by them or you can be excited by them,” he said.
Anita Chandraker, digital expert at PA Consulting Group, added: “On all fronts, commerce, technology, socioeconomics, equality, the environment – the world is in a state of flux and this period of change and evolution is set to totally disrupt how we live and work, in fact it’s already happening.”
She said there are about eight billion devices connected to the internet today but estimates there are going to be between 50 and 75 billion devices connected by 2020.
Watch the final Spark! video here.