Innovation In Software, UX And AI Critical To Attracting Next Generation Of Water TalentDavid Lynch is the co-founder and CEO of Klir, the opera...
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
David Lynch is the co-founder and CEO of Klir, the operating system for water.
With some utilities expecting to lose up to half of their workforce to retirement over the next 15 years, recruiting and training the next generation of water workers is critical to the survival of our water systems. But as an entire generation of operators, engineers and administrators prepares to move on, water utilities around the world are having a tough time replacing them.
New Zealand’s water sector projects a shortage of between 6,000-9,000 skilled workers over the next few decades, the U.K. projects a shortage of 27,000, and in the United States, that number could climb to six figures.
On the surface, it isn’t obvious why the water sector in particular is having such a tough time attracting young people. With its high job security, higher than average public compensation and generally rewarding, mission-oriented work, it should be an easy sell to educated younger workers—at least on paper.
As you dig deeper into the day-to-day challenges facing utility workers today, however, the reality is a bit more sobering.
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Water’s Digitization Problem
As someone who has spent their entire career building software tools for water utilities, I worry that the sector’s historical reluctance to embrace new technologies has created an environment that can be unattractive to younger, more digitally-savvy workers.
While the rest of the world forges ahead with cutting-edge digital tools, water utilities have been comparatively slow to adopt, sometimes waiting decades before deciding a piece of software or hardware is "mainstream" enough to onboard.
This means workers at utilities are stuck with rudimentary, slow and often painful-to-use toolboxes: spreadsheets, antiquated operating systems, paper log sheets, and binders—and in some cases even floppy disks.
Most California utilities don’t even have SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), which is how most industrial facilities around the world monitor their equipment and systems, and it’s also nearly half a century old. So you can imagine the technology many of our water utilities must be dealing with.
Better technology is the key to solving the industry’s staffing issues and fix water’s talent shortage. I’m convinced utilities need to get over their tech reluctance and embrace digital tools—and quickly.
Attracting The Best People With The Best Tools
While it might be painful to deal with now, I believe water’s digitization struggle is also a massive opportunity.
In addition to streamlining and bringing utilities into the 21st century, I’m convinced better technology can make work at utilities more attractive to young people and help bring in the next generation of water industry workers.
I’ve seen firsthand how better technology can galvanize a team and make an immediate impact on the front lines of any organization. But better software tools are particularly promising because of their ability to tackle another big problem in water: knowledge retention.
As the previous generation of water workers leaves, they take enormous amounts of institutional knowledge and expertise with them. Utilities need to start documenting those processes and institutional knowledge today so new employees can train for the job properly instead of playing catch-up.
It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about databases containing historical sampling data, lead service line inventories, project calendars containing thousands of important permit deadlines or GIS systems capturing customer and inspection information—the risks and the opportunities are the same.
If we can't bring together the myriad data points utilities use in their day-to-day work together, then we’re in for a long and painful transition. If we can, we’ll be setting up the next generation for success.
Bringing Water Into The 21st Century
While training and retaining new workers is important, communicating to the world that your utility is serious about technology starts long before your new employee begins their first day of work.
Utility customers and workers alike live in a world filled with internet-enabled, self-serve platforms—to consume media, communicate with colleagues, order groceries and so much more.
Attached link
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/10/13/innovation-in-software-ux-and-ai-critical-to-attracting-next-generation-of-water-talentTaxonomy
- Digital Media
- AI
- AI Soil Testing