I have worked in various regulated Industries for over 30 years, of which many years were spent in innovation and development across different industrial sectors, I have found that the water industry, in general, is plodding to innovate and adopt new technologies and the very long procurement cycles make it nearly impossible for early stage companies to bring new innovative technology to these markets, to survive they need to move to non-utility based industries. I have seen a glimmer of sunlight in the whole dark mess from two UK water companies who have excelled at supporting early-stage technologies. Still, the death blow to these early-stage companies is that they cannot survive the long procurement cycles. There needs to be a major rethink to see real improvement in the water industry.
Published by Gordon Whyte, Head of Operations at Scotmas Group Ltd
I have worked in various regulated Industries for over 30 years, of which many years were spent in innovation and development across different industrial sectors, I have found that the water industry, in general, is plodding to innovate and adopt new technologies and the very long procurement cycles make it nearly impossible for early stage companies to bring new innovative technology to these markets, to survive they need to move to non-utility based industries. I have seen a glimmer of sunlight in the whole dark mess from two UK water companies who have excelled at supporting early-stage technologies. Still, the death blow to these early-stage companies is that they cannot survive the long procurement cycles. There needs to be a major rethink to see real improvement in the water industry.