Northumbrian Water has gone out to tender on behalf of the water sector-wide Stream initiative which is working on a new project to transform data access in the water sector and drive innovation.

Led by Northumbrian Water, the collective (comprised of 11 water companies and 5 partner organisations) is looking to enable a scalable, repeatable approach to Open Data in Water.

The Stream consortium has already worked through a Blueprint phase to define the strategy and co-create an open data framework for the sector. In early 2023 Stream was successful in securing further funding from the Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge Transform stream to support the Implementation phase and establish Stream as an operational open data platform for the water sector.

As part of the implementation plan, there is a requirement to procure a data sharing platform capable of enabling the easy publication of data in both a centralised and decentralised manner as well as enabling data re-users to easily search, understand and access the datasets and share their findings to stimulate further innovation.

The implementation phase consists of an initial 10-month delivery stage to enable Stream to deliver both a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in December 2023 and 'Day-1' of the industrialised platform in Spring 2024.

Following the launch of the 'Day-1' platform, Stream will then focus on publishing additional open datasets to enable more complex use cases and develop additional user functionality.

Stream will also develop a business plan to identify and develop new revenue models that will support the transition to a sustainable operating model after the current 2-year funding phase.

The platform will need to support the achievement of the following benefits across the water sector and beyond:

• Transparency with simpler regulation
• Collaboration becomes the default
• More engagement with stakeholders and innovators
• Simple experience for users, with a single interface
• Quicker to share innovation and best practice
• More efficient water companies and lower bills
• Improved data based decisions and better performance

The data sharing platform will form part of the scalable open data framework, developed by Stream to enable innovators and other data re-users to use data to address key water sector challenges, including:

• Preventing environmental incidents;
• Reducing absolute carbon emissions associated with water extraction, use, and treatment;
• Bringing down the cost of water, particularly for the most vulnerable customers;
• Catalysing innovation and new ways of working across the sector

Other partners in the Stream project include: Anglian Water, Dwr Cymru, Scottish Water, SES Water, Severn Trent, Southern Water, South West Water, United Utilities, Wessex Water, Yorkshire Water, Aiimi, Costain, Icebreaker One and Sia Partners. Thames Water was originally involved in the design phase of the project but has since exited the formal consortium - the water company is now a supportive stakeholder rather than a partner.

Initial contract term is 2 years with further potential extension options. Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 3pm on 27 September 2023 – click here to access the tender documentation.