As an example of this, during the 'Latin America-Spain Water Dialogues', held in October 2018, organised by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) in Madrid, Global Omnium was the only water sector company invited to presents its advances to senior managers from different countries and institutions (Government of Spain, Government of Paraguay, Government of Argentina, Government of Peru, Government of Bolivia, Government of Colombia, World Bank, service providers from Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, etc.).
The presence of this company and its technological platform, GO-Aigua, in the forum organised by the bank to promote sustainable development in the region shows the technological development of the company, considered an uncontested global leader in the digital transformation of the water industry.
Global Omnium created this platform composed of multiple solutions to optimise water and energy resources (EARS, LINKWAT…), based on their experience with the internal digital transformation of the company; with it, they can manage 5,500 million of data every year, so that, after they are analysed, they can improve decision making and increase resource performance in the entire production process.
The investment with the Government of Ecuador to improve the technological management of water resources amounts to 450 million dollars
The company's senior executive, Jaime Barba, director of Disruptive Innovation and Digital Transformation and manager of GO-Aigua, during his talk in the round table on innovation in the urban water cycle, explained that 'the experience of GO-Aigua with the optimisation of energy costs in water production, with non-revenue water management, or extending the life of assets in a distribution network are real facts that allow us to consolidate our position in the water sector at the international level'.
On the other hand, during his participation in the event he reflected on the implementation of digital systems in water companies, explaining that the key to success is a cultural change and process change within the company, more so than acquiring new technology. Finally, he called on governments to promote a digital transformation in their countries since, according to him, the digital world will harmonise the opportunities countries have, and open economic and social gaps within them. In the words of Barba, 'only those that embrace a digital path will position themselves appropriately, and this will not depend on the opportunities the country has, but on the number of people that have that opportunity within the same country'.
Global Omnium has made a firm commitment to innovation and technology, creating GO-Aigua and the Sic Parvis Magna accelerator.
Ecuador's strategic partner
Coinciding with this event, the President of the company, Eugenio Calabuig, received the visit of the Vice President of the Republic of Ecuador, María Alejandra Vicuña, to sign a 'Memorandum of Understanding for investment in the sectors of water resources, agriculture, and social and solidarity economy', to create a joint undertaking, a public-private partnership.
The purpose of this public-private partnership project, where Global Omnium is a strategic partner specialised in water resources management, is to secure important investments in Ecuador in the coming years, worth up to 450 million dollars, financed by an investment fund.
The Government of the Republic of Ecuador will define in due course and through the competent authorities, the technical and financial parameters, and any other conditions for the development of projects in the sectors of water resources, agriculture, and social and solidarity economy. They will focus on the economic development of the provinces of Esmeraldas and Manabí.
Global Omnium, on their part, will be responsible for carrying out studies, and preparing plans and reports as required, in order to facilitate its participation in the different initiatives planned in the coming years, through the public-private company.
Global Omnium is a European leader in remote reading of smart meters, with more than 700,000 units operating
Collaboration with the EPA
The agreement presented in Valencia was signed after Global Omnium won a tender in Ecuador in 2015, becoming a strategic partner of Ecuador's Public Water Company (EPA) to participate in future public processes by the Ecuadorian company.
The purpose of this collaboration was, and continues to be, to transfer the knowledge and experience of the Valencia company, acquired through its almost 130 years in business, to Ecuador's Public Water Company, with regards to technical, administrative, business and financial matters.
This way, for almost three years, the EPA has been a first level partner in different technical initiatives that have contributed to improving water resource management efficiency and optimisation in the Latin American country.
Global Omnium has contributed expert cutting-edge knowledge, human and material resources, as well as technological and financial resources that guaranteed the development of projects and efficient processes at the Public Water Company, and, by extension, a high level of water resources management excellence in the rest of the country.
Control panel where the supply of Valencia and its metropolitan area is managed.
GO-Aigua, water software suite
The latest development of Global Omnium with regards to innovation in water management was the creation of Go-Aigua, a technological platform that integrates the most advanced software to optimise scarce resources throughout the entire water cycle.
GO-Aigua is Global Omnium's platform to manage water cycle processes and data. Its main strength is that it results from the optimisation of water management services in more than 400 cities.
The platform manages processes that include meter reading, billing and collection, customer service or management of field work and remote reading data, multiple SCADA systems, sensors, or GIS.
It has a Big Data system that uses statistical methods, demand forecasting, executes algorithms and works with time series, or data pretreatment.
With all that information — either in the distribution network, the fleet of meters, or water abstraction systems — it can find leaks and frauds, apply energy efficiency, monitor infrastructure through a digital twin, define alerts, study and extend the life of assets or present balance scorecards for decision makers.
It is a modular system: the whole platform can be installed, but they are independent elements that can also be installed separately.
Its high quality is not coincidental; rather, it results from the symbiosis of almost 130 years of experience in the water sector all over the world with the latest technologies; a synergy that enables achieving a high degree of efficiency, both water and energy efficiency, as well as improving operational capacity.
A series of options that will allow reducing the implementation costs of new systems by 70%, maintenance costs by 20% and energy consumption by 15%.
Global Omnium provides water supply and waste water treatment services to more than 7 million people in Spain and elsewhere: Angola, Colombia, Ecuador, Qatar or Venezuela
International leader in Smart Water
Global Omnium provides water supply and waste water treatment services to more than 7 million people in Spain and elsewhere: Angola, Colombia, Ecuador, Qatar or Venezuela.
The digital transformation initiated by de company more than ten years ago has enabled it to, on one hand, position itself as a technology leader, and, on the other hand, improve substantially its efficiency when it comes to planning water resource and energy needs to meet the demands of its clients.
Currently, it monitors the operation of 12,000 kilometres of pipelines, 26 drinking water treatment plants, 401 waste water treatment plants, 700,000 smart meters, etc. encouraging, through Big Data systems, more efficient decision making, thereby optimising water and energy resources.
