The Dark Data Team at PA Consulting Group – made up of energy & utilities and business intelligence & analytics experts – were the winners of Northumbrian Water Group’s (NWG) Leakage Data Hackathon competition held on 12 and 13 July 2017.
NWG organised the hackathon for experts interested in the opportunity to work on real and current data, diverse datasets and open source data to creatively explore the challenge of reducing leakage levels from its water distribution networks.
Participants had to develop improved data methods for early leak identification and prediction to support maintenance and replacement. Areas of focus included targeting emerging leaks, making the repair process more efficient and the development of solutions to support the decision making process.
PA’s Dark Data team demonstrated a differentiated approach to effectively identify, or predict, leak locations and support effective application of novel innovations and technology. They were awarded the “overall winner” prize for the quality of their client-ready insights and for delivering actionable findings at the end of the two days.
PA worked collaboratively with the NWG team to extract insights from the data to provide them with information they could use to act on and improve their performance.
The team found three credible insights, supported by robust recommendations for remedial actions, which NWG could look to pursue, helping contribute towards solving what is a national problem.
Commenting on the win, Martin Knoebel, Dark Data expert, PA Consulting Group said:
“We’re thrilled to have won this hackathon after competing against some other big named companies who had very interesting technology but lacked the market knowledge to understand the business drivers for the companies. It was an exciting few days for us and we enjoyed being able to showcase our differentiated Dark Data approach on such an important issue for the sector. The team was really pleased to have worked with Northumbrian Water Group and to be part of such a high profile event.”
Dark Data is PA’s approach for insights-based consulting. Through targeted, hypothesis-led re-use of data, the approach is gaining significant traction in the utilities sector and beyond.
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