In June, we reconvened Stream’s Steering Group which comprises experts that represent water companies, regulators, research, innovation bodies and government.
Co-chaired by Icebreaker One and NWL, the group’s primary function is to help provide leadership and market signaling. Oversight of, and endorsement from, this group will establish a lasting set of robust governance measures to ensure data is shared safely and with the correct regulations.
Date: 9th June 2025 10:00-12:00 BST
Location: online
Co-Chairs: Melissa Tallack (NWL); Gavin Starks (IB1)
Secretariat: IB1
The meeting aimed to
- Prepare for impact by:
- Reviewing and confirming the next quarter’s outcomes
- Aligning on common strategic priorities
- Review AG1 and AG2 recommendations: for decision
- Consolidated tech stack
- Use cases
Summary:
- The SG group members noted a number of communication barriers:
- It was noted that there can be an internal communication barrier to a better understanding of Stream within many of the large organisations as they may work in silos
- It was then discussed that in order to break down these siloes, the SG should:
- Write to the appropriate level of seniority within companies to highlight the opportunity to reduce work duplication.
- Leverage the next round of Ofwat Innovation Challenges to encourage colleagues to use Stream for any potential data sharing.
- It was agreed that it would be worth creating a standardised information content that companies could share across their internal networks
- It was then discussed that in order to break down these siloes, the SG should:
- It was noted that external organisations are lacking in understanding of what Stream is about.
- A noted value of Stream which is poorly understood is the collaboration element of Stream
- It was noted that member companies must continue repeating Stream messaging and talk about it externally so external stakeholders know where to turn to if they wanted to contact Stream.
- It was noted that there can be an internal communication barrier to a better understanding of Stream within many of the large organisations as they may work in silos
- It was noted that the Stream team has put in a concept note for the New Commons Challenge and if they make it through to the next round (receive notification on 16th June), the Steering Group members will be notified.
- It was noted that Phase 3 collaboration agreements need to be signed by August 2025 to ensure a smooth funding transition, with Northumbrian Water
- It was noted that due to the lack of pillar champions for the next quarter, success would be measured by outcomes rather than objectives.
- It was noted that the Q3 outcomes for each pillar will be:
- Use case and datasets: improving data quality and consistency, publishing the APR dataset, expanding the value of DWQ dataset, and offering member support
- Ecosystem: developing a focused marketing strategy to increase awareness and trust in Stream, and organising and running upcoming events and festivals
- Operations: engaging internal stakeholders, mapping member company goals for this AMP and internal goals, and resetting the strategy for the Stream team
- Technology: operationalising and integrating Stream’s tech stack, and a plan for implementing a clear actionable reporting analytics framework that meets the needs of Stream
- It was discussed that there are no set target levels or percentages for data quality, and that in Q3 the product team will analyse the current state of the datasets, and look to set an achievable goal in Q4 with member companies.
- It was discussed that certain performance commitments could be supported by open and shared data and therefore leveraged by Stream to garner attention and support from senior executives within water companies to help galvanise members around a key mission.
- It was agreed that per capita consumption (PCC) is a key priority for the Steering Group, followed by river water quality and leakage.
- The updates from the Advisory Group 1 were noted:
- It was noted that AG1 did not recommend creating a new dataset to answer the common EIR request of ‘what do you put in my drinking water?’.
- Instead, AG1 members proposed to improve the tagging of the existing dataset and signpost people to existing content such as the DWI website and company websites.
- To address the use case prioritisation list, it was noted that AG1 members recommended three key steps:
- Explore the proof of concept of customer data sharing between different water companies who share customers
- Prioritise the Collaborating on Lead use case
- Explore a roadmap and proof of concept for Asset Performance / Condition Based Monitoring use case
- It was noted that AG1 did not recommend creating a new dataset to answer the common EIR request of ‘what do you put in my drinking water?’.
- The updates from the Advisory Group 2 were noted:
- It was noted that AG2 members had also made a recommendation to the Steering Group around a suitable tech stack for the team and members to use moving forward.
- It was noted that the recommendation was to keep the tech stack simple so that the tools could be seamlessly switched from NWL to an autonomous Stream platform when it’s appropriate to do so.
- Finally, it was discussed whether the pillar champion period should extend from three to six months and that all members need to nominate a champion to support the success of the project.
Next meeting date: 21st July 2025
Formal records, including attendees, are maintained by the secretariat, and are confidential to the Steering Group members.