Acea Waidy® Management System: the platform for water resources protection

How Acea Waidy ® Management System was born

In 2019, the Acea Waidy ® Management System project was launched in order to create a digital tool to support the strategic and operative decisions of those who work every day to protect and improve water resources in its integrated cycle. The platform was created in collaboration with NTT DATA Italy, a Tokyo-based multinational system integration and strategic consulting company selected through a partnership for innovation process. Acea Waidy® Management System is a flexible, scalable and safe tool, completely realized in the Agile Way.

Waidy® is the union of the words Water and Identity. This solution is part of an integrated ecosystem -  Acea Waidy Ogni Goccia Vale  (Acea Waidy Every Drop Counts) - through which the Group promotes digital and innovative solutions that will make more efficient water resources management systems.

What are the main functionalities of Acea Waidy ® Management System

Acea Waidy ® Management System is an application cloud-native and multichannel platform that:

  • collects and integrates data from management systems (GIS information system, remote monitoring, commercial records, field interventions);
  • provides the necessary information for planning intervention strategies through the use of machine learning models;
  • enables real-time visualisation, monitoring and management of districts through geo-referencing;
  • calculates water balance and related KPIs;
  • supports engineers with hydraulic modelling tools for in-depth what-if analysis;
  • uses AI and machine learning to prevent service interruptions.

What does Cloud-native mean?

The Cloud is a network of remote servers that work together in one ecosystem that you can access from any device with an Internet connection.

The Cloud can store and manage data, run application and distribute contents and services in every moment, anytime, anywhere, on any device - all you need is an Internet connection.

A cloud-native application is designed to be based in the cloud and make the most of its services and distribution models while achieving more speed and efficiency.

A cloud-native application has its advantages:

  • automatic scalability: it dynamically adapts to the workload to manage traffic peaks and periods of inactivity;
  • “microservices” architecture: promotes modularity and simplifies maintenance. This structure also allows the application to be resilient to faults, so that it can continue to function despite isolated faults;
  • access from anywhere: thanks to the cloud infrastructure;
  • security: enhanced by the advanced services offered by cloud providers that improve data protection and threat management.

How the team works

Acea Waidy ® Management System was designed and realised using the Agile Way. This approach allowed the creation of a complex platform in an iterative and incremental manner from the very first versions. In Italy the team is now composed by 5 teams with 40 members each.

The users of the application form a 300-professional community in the water business. In the community needs are prioritised, information, experiences and success story are shared in a dedicated digital space. In three-week cycles, teams design, implement and release new features; they receive feedback directly from the people who use the application in their daily work, as well as from strategic stakeholders.

Sustainable results

There are many results achieved using Acea Waidy ® Management System, some examples are:

  • optimisation of water resources management;
  • reduction of up to 35% of losses in the individual district;
  • reduction of energy consumption and drinking water products due to pressure stabilisation;
  • 30% reduction in time spent on maintenance by water protection professionals;
  • reduction of failure rates by up to 25%.

Acea Waidy ® Management System platform has resulted in significant advantages for end users, including reduced water consumption through the adaptive management of water pressure and more accurate consumption measurement. This is achieved thanks to the integration of monitoring systems and improved detection of apparent leaks.

Moreover, within the platform, Acea is developing a section dedicated to sewage networks and to its districts. The goal is to enhance the ability to analyse and monitor, thereby improving efficiency and enabling comparisons between water and sewerage systems by correlating their flows

Acea Waidy® Management System water resources management

Prizes and Awards

Acea has received several awards and recognitions for its sustainability and design efforts.
These include:

  • Prize NTT DATA Award 2022 – the prize was won in a competition involving over 50 countries where NTT DATA operates. The project was recognized for its ability to achieve a sustainable society while pursuing business objectives;
  • in June 2022, the product as presented during the Google Cloud event “Il cloud. Pensato per l’Italia” (“The cloud. Designed for Italy”).
  • iF Design Award 2023 – is one of the most prestigious awards for outstanding design and services in the field of engineering. It was selected from almost 11,000 entries submitted from 56 countries;
  • Prize for the Sustainable Development 2023  – for the circular water management sector;
  • The Acea Waidy ® Management System was selected as part of the ADI Design Index 2023 by the Association for Industrial Design, which collects the best designs put into production.

Acea Waidy ® Management System its present and future

Acea Waidy ® Management System is used by 7 Acea Group's water companies covering Central and Southern Italy. The system manages over forty thousand kilometres of digitised network, monitoring more than two thousand districts and serving a population of over 6.8 million residents.

Thanks to its strong focus on technological innovation, the Acea Waidy ® Management System enables an efficient water resources management, mitigating the effects of climate change and ensuring the safety and resilience of aqueduct systems.

Reducing leaks, preventing and limiting the impacts of climate change, and ensuring aqueducts resilience are the main objectives. The sustainable management of such a priceless resource like water is a crucial element in the social, economic and environmental development.

Highlights

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