the digital transformation journey of a water utility company

THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

JOURNEY OF A WATER UTILITY

COMPANYNchidzi Malumbela, Information Services Manager, Water Utilities Corporation, Botswana

• Treatment and Distribution Only

THE SOURCE - 1970

• established by an Act of Parliament

• Servicing urban centres ( 8 areas)

• Portable water only

• Abstraction Treatment and Distribution Only

THE WELLSPRING - 1970- 2009

80 000 Installed

Meters

8Service

Centers

500New connections

a month

60 000 Customers

WAVES OF CHANGE – 2009

• Water Sector Reforms – Government Directive

• Waste water services throughout the country

• Growth in Customer base and Geographic span

• Need For Business Transformation

CHALLENGES

Customer Data

Meters Readings

Queries

No Payments

Bills

INITIAL SOLUTIONS TO THE CHALLENGES

Toll Free

Banks

AFTER THE REFORMS -ASSESSING THE TRANSFORMATION- 2014

+390k Meters read &

Bills circulated monthly

75Interconnected offices

+3000 Computer

Devices

10k Calls - Contact Centre

per month

Greater Geographic

span

5000New connections

a month

50 service centers

+350k Customers

6200+ Notifications monthly

THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY- 2014-2018

Customer Engagement Channels

Processes and systems

Turn Disruptive to competitive advantages

Customer user Experience

Technology for Business Transformation

THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY- 2014-2018

Employees Into Solution Designers

Low cost tools

Customer centric Systems

Options

Convenience

THE DIGITAL SOLUTION OFFERINGS

Request Bill- Email Reporting of leaksBill payment

Meter Reading Submission Update Account DetailsStatement Request

TRANSFORMATIVE DIGITAL SOLUTIONS- 2014-2018

Website

USSD

Web

ServicesKiosk

The

WUC

App

BENEFITS REALISATION–REVENUE COLLECTION

495 M

771M

1.68B

-

200.00

400.00

600.00

800.00

1 000.00

1 200.00

1 400.00

1 600.00

1 800.00

2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

0.6 M

5.5M

BENEFIT REALIZATION – CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

12482260 1890

3758 4003

14100

Traditional Channels vs Digital Channels

Call Centre (IVR) Digital Self Service

SEP- 17 DEC- 17 APR- 18

LESSONS

• keeping up with disruptive technologies

• Customer engagement is key

• Marketing for product uptake.

• Co-existence and partnership for Success

• Small impactful changes

• Learn from other Industries

• Innovate or get out of Business

RAINS TO COME -WHERE THERE ARE NO LEADERS

IOT and Smart devices

IT and Operational Technology(OT)

AI and Machine learning

Virtual and Augmented reality

Predictive Analysis