Stream has been named as one of the winners of the third Water Breakthrough Challenge for the Implementation Phase of the programme, receiving £3.9m to unlock the potential of water data to benefit customers, society, and the environment.
Stream consists of a consortium of 16 water and professional services companies with Northumbrian Water as the lead organisation. It will put in place technology and processes to remove the barriers to opening up and sharing water company data.
In the Blueprint Phase, Icebreaker One launched an interim Steering Group to shape the governance structure of Stream and worked to establish a lasting set of robust governance measures and engagement opportunities ahead of the Implementation Phase.
In this next phase of work, Icebreaker One will continue to co-build an appropriate common framework for long-term collaboration, standards development, operational and legal capabilities to enable sector-wide and cross-sector data sharing.
Gavin Starks, Founder and CEO of Icebreaker One, said:
“Sector-wide data sharing requires industry collaboration, transparent governance and recommendations that are developed for the sector and by the sector.
Stream is an opportunity for the development of data licensing frameworks, legal frameworks, technical standards and operational frameworks that are aligned with sector needs, the national interest and emerging policy and regulation.
Working together, we will determine the appropriate legal structure, steering and advisory groups, service components to address both data governance and trust framework and data services. We are looking forward to continuing to work alongside the Stream consortium on this groundbreaking programme”
The full list of winners is available on the Fund’s website. Run by Ofwat and Challenge Works, and supported by Arup and Isle Utilities, the Water Breakthrough Challenge is a part of Ofwat’s £200 million Innovation Fund and aims to encourage initiatives that help to tackle the biggest challenges facing the water sector, such as achieving net zero, protecting natural ecosystems and reducing leakage, as well as delivering value to society.