Peter O’Donoghue, CIO of South East Water, discusses the importance of delivering value to customers and using innovation to drive the organisation forward in this community interview.

Improving the customer experience, particularly point-of-bill interactions, through the use of digital meters and real-time information on water usage is crucial. South East Water is also investing in IoT technology to gain insights into their water and sewer networks, allowing them to be proactive in preventing issues such as leaks and sewer blockages.

The organisation is transitioning to being data-driven, using information to make better decisions on asset management and infrastructure planning. Sustainability is a key consideration, looking at how to reuse water and manage future demands as Melbourne grows.

Building partnerships with external stakeholders is crucial for success in the water supply chain, and South East Water uses Salesforce to gain a clear understanding of different customer types and their assets.

Peter advises taking a longer-term perspective and aligning with the organisation’s goals when embarking on digital transformation.

Key Takeaways:

• South East Water have a program called Digital Utility, which focuses on utilising information for decision making rather than simply deploying devices. The primary goal is to gather insights regarding project progress and effectively incorporate them into the asset lifecycle.
• Adopt a big picture perspective while taking small-scale actions. The focus lies in leveraging information to enhance customer service, providing them with updates on household activities, real-time insights on optimising water usage, preventing unexpected billing surprises, and fostering long-term sustainability goals for Victoria
• Partnerships are essential in our current landscape as the era of large-scale in-house development has come to an end. South East Water are presently undergoing a modernisation process for our key applications, which will effectively eliminate the remaining legacy systems within the organisation.