Yorkshire Water to increase transparency with open data

Yorkshire Water is on a bid to increase transparency by creating a form of “citizen regulation” as the company announced it aims to release the “majority” of its operational and service data by 2020.

It plans to start with “critical areas” such as leakage and pollution and will publish details of leakage data for the last 12 months this March.

The company recently set itself an ambitious target of reducing leakage by at least 40 per cent by 2025.

After publishing its leakage performance, Yorkshire Water will then engage with the public and data users to find out what they would like the company to publish next.

The firm has committed to a two-year programme of data releases until it reaches the “open by default” position.

It has partnered with the Leeds Open Data Institute (ODI) and claims to be the first in the water sector to commit to an open by default approach.

The only exceptions to the data policy will be personal identifiable data and information with security implications, the company said.

Yorkshire Water said it aims to “empower citizens” to scrutinise data and create a new cohort of “citizens regulators” to hold the company to account on its performance.

In November last year, the company unveiled a multi-million pound plan to transform its operational performance as it looks to become a “top performer” in the water industry.

It also hopes its open data approach will “stimulate innovation”, a major drive from Ofwat as part of PR19.

Yorkshire Water said it will encourage “outside experts” to look at its operational performance and identify new and innovative solutions to traditional industry issues.

Richard Flint, chief executive at Yorkshire Water, said: “By sharing data sets through Leeds ODI we want to encourage data scientists and analysts to become something akin to citizen auditors who are able to openly and freely monitor our performance and hold us to account.

“By 2020, it is our aim that all our operational data will be available for public scrutiny. This approach will also expand intelligence of our infrastructure, helping us to predict and prevent incidents, such as leakage, which is what our customers demand and deserve.

“We also want to collaborate with other agencies and authorities in the region to see if our data can be combined with theirs to benefit the communities we all serve.”

Paul Connell, founder of Open Data Institute Leeds, said: “We are very pleased that Yorkshire Water have joined the founding sponsor group of ODI Leeds and committed to be ‘open by default’. They are now part of one of the strongest data and open innovation eco-systems in the country and open data is fundamental to its progress, as Leeds becomes the data city.”

Yorkshire Water said it will publish three data sets between March and May including historic leakage data, pollution incident data from the last five years and new leakage data derived from acoustic ear listening devices.

Organisations such as the NHS and San Francisco Transport Authority have already identified millions of pounds worth of savings through the use of open data, the company said.

In October 2017, Yorkshire Water announced plans to remove its offshore banking arrangements, reduce borrowing costs and simplify its finances as part of a long-term drive to enhance services for customers.