New Manual Released on Fostering Water Utility Innovation

DENVER, Colorado (May 8, 2017) -- The Water Research Foundation and Water Environment & Reuse Foundation have published a new guidebook to foster innovation within the water utility and commercial sectors. The WRF and WE&RF partnered with the Birmingham Water Works Board and utilities from four continents to produce the Fostering Innovation Within Water Utlities manual. According to a release, the guidebook provides frameworks utilities can use to foster a creative and productive culture. More from WRF's release: “Utility structure and processes are built for reliability and repeatability, which can breed a culture averse to trying new and relatively untried ideas,” said Rob Renner, CEO of the Water Research Foundation. “Our hope is that water utilities will use this guidance manual to assess their innovation environment, which can foster new ideas and allow implementation of new approaches that will transform their organizations and enhance their ability to meet future challenges.” “Consistent with our experiences through the Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology, known as LIFT, this research team found that utilities recognize that to thrive they must provide a culture that supports innovation and manages new ideas as valuable resources,” explained Melissa Meeker, WE&RF CEO. “We are excited to share this guidance manual with the broader water community to foster our emerging culture of innovation.” The term “innovation” as used in this guidance manual is defined as the application of new ideas resulting in increased value to utility customers and/or increased utility productivity. Using published literature, global surveys, and lessons learned from current programs, the research team facilitated a series of workshops with water utility professionals from around the world to develop the framework. In total, project partners from 50 utilities, professional associations, and the commercial sector worked together to develop a knowledge base from over 30 innovation programs including 14 detailed case studies. The case studies provide an overview of the selected operations and innovation storyline, and detail how the organizations engage each of the eight innovation disciplines. Eleven case studies representing informal, formal, large, and medium innovation programs for water utilities were developed. In addition, three case studies of innovation in private sector companies were developed based on publicly available information and interviews with staff.