Utility Week backs collaborative innovation with new hub

Utility Week has announced the launch of Utility Week Innovate (UW Innovate), a new hub housed within the UW platform, designed to champion and facilitate collaborative innovation.  

UW Innovate brings together industry best practice on the biggest challenges facing the UK’s water and energy businesses. It will also track the progress of innovation projects funded by energy and water regulators Ofgem and Ofwat, and facilitate the sharing of learnings between utility sectors. It contains three channels, covering energy, energy networks and water in detail, each with a regular programme of content; dedicated email updates; and virtual and live events.  

UW Innovate will be guided by an editorial board of Utility Week Innovators, individuals from the technical and operational functions of UK utilities who are leading change from within.  

Utility Week portfolio director Ellen Bennett said: “Utilities need innovation – urgently and collectively – to meet the challenges of the future. The demands of the UK’s stretching net zero targets and environmental concerns around water efficiency and quality, coupled with the post-Covid recovery, demand new ways of working. The regulators are supporting this with the Network Innovation competitions and the water innovation fund – and we at Utility Week are delighted to play our part with the launch of UW Innovate.  

“Following consultation with our audiences and industry stakeholders, we have created this new resource, which will be available to everyone in the industry, to champion collaborative innovation. UW Innovate will share best practice within and between utilities and inspire professionals to discover new ways of solving the most pressing business challenges – particularly those associated with achieving net zero targets, and other environmental goals.” 

From May 25 2021, UW Innovate will be the new home of WWT, Utility Week’s sister brand, bringing the great content and community of WWT with it. WWT’s conferences will continue in association with UW Innovate. Faversham House, the publisher of Utility Week and WWT, will be getting in touch with all WWT registered users and newsletter recipients, as well as commercial partners, in the coming days, to explain and support the transition to UW Innovate.  

UW Innovate will be closely aligned with Utility Week Live, the utility industry’s annual exhibition, connecting utilities professionals with the innovation to solve their business challenges. UW Innovate will showcase innovative start-ups; include interviews with frontline leaders and pioneers from other geographies, sectors and the supply chain; and house a host of educational content in an online resource library. It will cover challenges including:

• Creating the conditions for innovation
• Achieving net zero
• Delivering a smart energy network
• Delivering a smart water network
• Transforming field operations
• Delivering system flexibility & the EV rollout
• Managing, maintainingand planning for assets 
• Improving wastewater treatment & resource recovery
• Delivering the smart meter rollout
• Managing bad debt & collections

UW Innovate will launch on 25 May with the publication of the insights gathered at Utility Week Live Summit, May 17-18 2021. It will be freely available to all utilities professionals, with further insight and analysis available for Utility Week members.