In January, we brought together Stream’s Advisory Group 1 (Market & User Needs) which comprises subject matter experts from 16 water companies and other industry stakeholders. Co-chaired by Icebreaker One and Northumbrian Water, this group advises and supports the project partners as they commence work on Stream’s Implementation Phase. 

Date: 8 January 2026 10:00-11:30 GMT

Location: Online

Co-Chairs: Charlotte Hillenbrand (IB1), Alex Hughes (Portsmouth Water), Andy Johnston (Scottish Water) 

Secretariat: Icebreaker One 

Meeting Aims 

  • Refresh the prioritisation process to ensure focus and alignment for 2026 
  • Refine the backlog ahead of prioritisation process for one big use case on 2026’s theme of water effectiveness using water company insights 
  • What do you want to see from a water company perspective moving forward? 

Summary

  • It was noted that:
    • All outcomes were achieved in Q4 2025. 
    • The overarching theme for 2026 is water efficiency, covering leakage, per capita consumption, metering, water quality, and resilience. 
    • Engagement from members is critical to success; lack of participation is a key risk. 
    • Several changes for 2026 include introducing a strategic business pillar and renaming ‘operations’ to ‘governance’. 
    • Open Data Day will run in March as part of the global Open Knowledge Foundation event, focused on water efficiency, with hackathons hosted by member organisations, who are able to define their own challenge within the remit of water efficiency. 
  • It was agreed that:
    • Five priority use cases will move forward for refinement 
    • Some use cases (e.g., APR data and common performance commitments) are valuable but deferred due to timing and regulatory uncertainty. 
  • It was discussed that:
    • Additional use cases need further exploration before prioritisation 
    • Risks include dependency on third-party data and regulatory changes. 
    • CReDO funding update: the initial bid was unsuccessful but a new bid will be submitted for Catalyst funding. 
    • Engagement campaigns and reusable tools, such as the bitesize messaging, will be developed to strengthen ecosystem participation.