Report: Water Data Space – insights and learnings from the project

The Water Sector in Europe as well as internationally faces tremendous challenges driven by exploitation and pollution of resources, climate change, and an increasing demand-supply gap. In Denmark, the focus is more specifically on increasing efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, treatment of environmental hazardous substances, recovering resources from wastewater and adapting to a changing climate with more extreme weather.

Data is a crucial resource for economic growth, innovation, and societal progress. However, the value potential of data remains untapped due to several challenges, which include the lack of governance, business and data models, regulatory and technical hurdles related to data reuse for the common good, and limited accessibility to (and availability of) data.

Examples of data models do exist, such as DANVAND and DANDAS governed by DANVA. These data models are used by most Danish utilities. Likewise, data from monitoring of recipients can be found via Danish Environmental Portal. Having said that, more similar initiatives must take place to truly leverage the value potential of data sharing. To overcome significant barriers to digitalization, there is a need for data harmonization and access to data.

The value of data sharing is linked to some of the wicked water problems attached to global mega challenges. The climate crisis is creating an unbalanced water system with periods of severe drought and devastating floods. Clean energy, for example, Power-to-X solutions, demands extreme amounts of very clean water – and Water infrastructure accounts for 6 percent of energy usage in Europe – making new water solutions key to solving the energy crisis. The essence of a Danish Water Data Space is to create one or several trusted digital frameworks with the aim of supporting a data economy where multiple data sources can be accessed and shared for multiple uses, ideally for the benefit of multiple public and commercial service providers and a key for solving water-related mega challenges.

In the report, four use cases are included. The first one looks into automated reporting – an approach that has shown great potential for optimizing the workflow.

Background

The purpose of the use case was to ease the annual reporting of benchmark utility data to the authorities, which today is not a stand­ardized process. Standardizing queries could reduce the burden of finding and aggregat­ing data to be submitted to the authorities by water utilities. At Herning Vand, it takes two months of work each year to gather and report data.

Activities

To be able to test very specifically and perform a PoC, it was chosen to focus on pipe registrations. We set out on the task of proposing an application able to gather the desired data from the utility database. Aggregated properly and presented for the user, it would be possible to transfer the data directly to the authorities. We collaborated with more water utilities who provided test data and gave us valuable insights into the daily workings as well as the hurdles to be overcome. We established that the authority’s role was pivotal to reach a solution. There­fore, collaboration with the authorities was explored with positive feedback as a result.

The EU is accelerating the Data Space agenda, but data sharing is still limited due to trust issues, technical barriers (e.g., lack of a common standardization), and lack of appropriate regulations of the governance of data sharing. In the Danish water utility sector similar issues can be observed due to various reasons, such as:

• Fragmentation across water utilities concerning capacity, data standardization, priorities, and types of collaboration with external partners.
• A clear lack of common data standardization.
• Utilities are hesitant to share their data, as they don’t have sufficient trust in how data will be used.

Interviews carried out in relation to the project with utilities, authorities and SMEs revealed that a common data space will only be developed if the following factors are accounted for:

• The water sector should be considered as a strategic sector area of digitalization.
• Common data standardization nationally or at the EU level needs to be created and funding must be allocated.
• A Water Data Space must be organized through a specific infrastructure in which data owned by different actors is visible and accessible.

If you are curious to know more about the project and learnings from it, you can access the full version of the report via the link below.

The project is a joint project, including the following partners: Aarhus Vand, Danmarks Miljøportal, Systematic, DHI, DTU, Vandcenter Syd, Aalborg Universitet, Hofor, Herning Vand, Aarhus Universitet og Water Valley Denmark.

The project is supported by the EU Regional Fund REACT and Danish Board of Business Development.

Ulla Sparre
CEO, Water Valley Denmark
usp@watervalleydenmark.com