Water, wastewater and flood resilience services provider Binnies (previously Black & Veatch’s water businesses in Europe and Asia, now part of the RSK group), and Aarhus Vand, Denmark’s leading water utility company, have created a story map demonstrating the advantages of developing a digital blueprint for water utility companies.
A digital blueprint can be defined as a plan for successfully and sustainably implementing digital technologies and processes within an organisation. It should form a link between digital initiatives and wider business goals to ensure they are aligned across short-, medium- and long-term time horizons.
It recognises the need for a line of sight between the decisions a water utility company makes and the data required to make them. A digital blueprint is a necessary and vital means for achieving strategic objectives. It is dynamic and needs to adapt in response to changes in the business environment, market conditions, the workforce and regulations.
Creating a digital blueprint requires an understanding of the organisation’s current digital maturity. Most organisations have already started their digital journeys, so understanding the current maturity level is key to evaluating the success resulting from digital transformation. The Digital Readiness Level tool can be used by organisations to evaluate their maturity across six key areas: organisational intent, standards and governance, digital architecture, data quality, the implementation roadmap and digital investment planning.
Binnies Digital Products and Services Director Chris Steele, and Jesper Kjelds, Chief Digital Information Officer from Aarhus Vand, consider why you might need a digital blueprint, what the components should be and where to start. Chris and Jesper explain how they have begun to deliver a digital blueprint across Aarhus Vand, which wants to take the lead and make a difference when it comes to shaping future water solutions. The company is focusing its efforts on exploiting digital technology to achieve sustainable growth by ensuring that quality data forms a key part of its decision-making process and is available at the point of need in an intuitive and integrated way. A digital blueprint has been central in structuring the realisation of Aarhus Vand’s digital strategy and ensuring that it, as a business, “does the right things and does those things right”, a sentiment shared by Binnies and the wider RSK group. It is also worth noting that digital blueprints can be applied to organisations across a range of industries and sectors.
Lars Schrøder, Chief Executive Officer of Aarhus Vand, said, “The digitalisation and additional focus on the transformation of our company are completely central for achieving our vision to be Denmark’s leading water company. The digitalisation across the business will mean that Aarhus Vand in the future will be more digital than it currently is. Therefore, we will be more competent at working together, we will develop new products, services and business models. In this way, Aarhus Vand will become an even more exciting and developing workplace.”
“Our work demonstrates what can be achieved through a digital blueprint and how this is attainable,” says Chris Steele, Binnies Digital Products and Services Director. “We would highly recommend that water utility companies and other businesses consider what a digital blueprint could do for them. We want to propel companies to become leaders in their sectors through innovative and cutting-edge technologies.”
If you are interested in finding out more about digital blueprints or related Binnies technologies, please contact Chris Steele.