Open and shared data in the business retail market is moving from idea to test, creating potential opportunities for FWA members

Following Cross 8’s presentation of the Open and Shared Data Benefits Case, the Strategic Panel agreed to move into a proof of value phase. MOSL are now choosing a small number of defined tests to explore where shared data can create value and what protections need to be put in place for customers and the market. Future Water Association (FWA) members should monitor developments in this space.

As readers will know, many parts of the water sector are moving towards more open data, in a direction now familiar to us all from industries such as energy and banking.

Most people in and around the business retail market (BRM) are broadly supportive of wider access to data. But that support tends to be based on principle: Better information should support better decisions. Better visibility should reduce friction. It’s abstract rather than based on any specific need.

To make it more concrete the business retail market’s Strategic Panel is working through MOSL to define an Open Data Strategy and as part of that process MOSL appointed Cross 8 to develop the benefits case.

Cross 8 interviewed more than 80 participants from across water and non-water organisations and combined that with their knowledge of other industries to identify 361 potential use cases.

The range of themes the use cases covered reinforces the number of ways that members of FWA could add value.

Some of the use cases relate to the everyday mechanics of the market. Better structured and more accessible data could improve switching, reduce avoidable disputes, support change of occupier processes, and make key information easier to locate and use. In a market where small frictions accumulate into real cost and delay, that matters.

Some of them were closer to operational action. Better visibility of consumption patterns could help identify abnormal use, continuous flow, and possible leakage. That creates opportunities to target interventions more effectively and to measure whether they worked. For organisations trying to improve efficiency with limited time and budget, that kind of evidence has real practical value.

And some of them reach far beyond the current core market. Once Cross 8 explained to non-water organisations what data exists, those organisations began to identify possible applications in areas such as benchmarking, portfolio management, resilience planning, sustainability reporting, and risk analysis.

While Cross 8’s analysis proved that there is definitely benefit from sharing BRM data more widely, it also identified barriers and risks that would need to be managed. Strong controls will need to be put in place to protect customer data and to ensure that current trading parties aren’t disadvantaged unfairly.

The Strategic Panel’s decision to move the programme into a proof of value phase gives MOSL and the market the chance to take a disciplined approach: select a small number of credible use cases, define the data and access arrangements they require, set the right controls, and assess the results. That process should help answer the questions that matter most. Where does value genuinely emerge? What governance is needed? Which models fit current market arrangements? Which uses deserve to go further?

Members of FWA should pay close attention to this as it develops, as it may well open up new opportunities in future. If you’d like to find out more, contact Cross 8.

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