Last September marked the one-year anniversary of the official launching of GoAigua. However, the origins of the company date back to 2006. It was at that point when Global Omnium started its technological transformation, digitalising its processes and infrastructure with a heavy investment to furnish an entire field sensor network.
As a result, a large amount of information and key data were obtained; afterwards, the company extracted value from them thanks to the inclusion of a scientific data unit, as well as disruptive technologies. Based on these data, they developed solutions internally to promote the efficiency of integrated water cycle management: validation in the field, leak detection, work order management, customer service, etc.
GoAigua results from the success of that digital transformation within the water utility itself, thus contributing a unique differential value. The company combines extensive experience in the application of technology with broad knowledge of the sector. All of that means GoAigua is a sure value, born out of water experts, for the water industry.
The company is now focusing on new strategic markets and plans to open new international offices in the near future
Its growth over the past year has been quite significant. The company has become established internationally, opening offices and promoting projects in Latin America and the Middle East. Currently, GoAigua is present in Spain, Angola, Qatar, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia. To continue with its expansion plans, the company is now focusing on new strategic markets and plans to open new international offices in the near future.
During this year, the team has established trust relationships with different companies to build with them a digital transformation plan, adapted to their degree of technological maturity. This activity has allowed GoAigua to deepen its knowledge of the sector and continue to offer technological solutions that are integrated into a single management point. These solutions allow utilities to increase efficiency in the whole water management cycle: billing, management of work orders, and operation and maintenance of networks and plants.
In the past few months, the company has notably increased its presence in water sector events, participating in international trade shows and in water industry expert fora. It has been a year of learning and success, such as the recent recognition as the best Smart Water Platform in Europe, awarded by Water Europe (formerly WssTP) to GoAigua's platform.
GoAigua's mission is to increase the efficiency of sector organisations, working along with them in their digital transformation, facilitating communication between people and processes. The company has become established as a global technological partner that offers innovative solutions for integrated water cycle management.
GoAigua has consolidated its brand during 2019, improving its position in key international markets and connecting with new strategic partners. Moreover, GoAigua has been able to consolidate its structure as a leading technological company in the water sector. The good results obtained have driven the growth of its team, which comprises already more than 180 professionals.
GoAigua's technological solutions
GoAigua offers a set of technological solutions that are integrated into a single management point. Their strength lies in that they have been developed internally to provide an answer to the challenges Global Omnium was experiencing as a water management company. The solutions have been tested and calibrated by engineers that participate in daily management.
One of the distinctive features of GoAigua is its modular and open nature. That implies it can be installed on any platform and can be integrated with the solutions the client is already using. In addition, regarding communication systems and suppliers, GoAigua is totally agnostic and scalable.
The different modules are aimed to solve the sector's challenges: remote reading, non revenue water, infrastructure management, master plans, asset inventory, work orders, billing, energy efficiency, smart irrigation, customer satisfaction, mathematical models, etc.
GoAigua's mission is to increase the efficiency of sector organisations, working along with them in their digital transformation
Success stories
GoAigua has implemented projects which have become real success stories in the water sector. The remote reading project in Gandía (province of Valencia, Spain) and the integration of the billing system in Ecuador are two examples.
Regarding remote reading, the project led by GoAigua, Vodafone and the Municipality of Gandía has turned the municipality into a leading European Smart Water City. The process of digital transformation of water management involved the entire population and has been achieved with GoAigua's solutions and Vodafone's NB-IoT communications network.
The objective of the municipal team was to enhance performance, optimising resources and offering an excellent service to citizens. This involved the deployment of approximately 40,000 remote reading meters and the transmission of hourly consumption data using NB-IoT technology. Based on these data, fed into the big data platform of GoAigua and standardised, innovative services were created that increase management efficiency and improve citizens' quality of life.
The benefits the project provides include reducing non revenue water thanks to more efficient detection of internal leaks, a more accurate estimation of the water balance and fraud warnings. Citizens can receive alerts about leaks and consumption in empty flats, such as second homes. In addition, municipal social services can receive alerts if they detect irregular consumption patterns or an interruption of consumption in homes with persons in need of assistance.
The second success story results from the collaboration with Ecuador's Public Water Company (EPA), leading to a 500% increase in turnover after the integration of the billing system in a single platform. The EPA has 37 offices across the country and is in charge of water resource management. Specialised consulting services in digital transformation, together with the implementation of the GoAigua solution for the billing system, enhanced efficiency at all stages. The baseline situation featured low revenues, below potential revenue figures, due to customers that were not billed and inaccurate billing.
The project involved implementing the GoAigua technology in the offices managed by the company, integrating existing customers and contracts. The ERP system that was in use was replaced by a quality ERP, integrated and versatile. Furthermore, the GoAigua modules related to the billing system were implemented: control of real property assets, customer service and virtual office, debt management, payment collection, billing and work orders.
GoAigua has become established as a global technological partner that offers innovative solutions for integrated water cycle management
Not only did turnover increase thanks to the inclusion of previously unbilled clients, but also collection increased by 300% by reducing the volume of non revenue water. This was achieved through improvements in the billing system, debt management and detection of fraud. On the other hand, customer complaints decreased by 80% after applying certain service excellence criteria. Lastly, we may highlight that the expenses were reduced by 20% thanks to greater efficiency in terms of travelling, management of meter failure and communications among different departments in the organisation.
Continuous innovation
GoAigua stays at the forefront of the water sector by providing innovative solutions for the digital transformation of the industry. To this effect, the open innovation hub of the Global Omnium Group plays a key role, undertaking strategic investment in deep tech and water tech, in order to bring closer new technologies that contribute a tangible technological discovery or provide a disruptive solution for the sector.
GoAigua stays at the forefront of the water sector by providing innovative solutions for the digital transformation of the industry
Continuous improvement is the working philosophy of GoAigua. Thus, it constantly seeks new technologies to find high impact solutions related to robotics, machine learning, big data, artificial intelligence, virtual reality or cybersecurity.
Hence, the company offers an integrated service to overcome traditional barriers in the water industry, in direct contact with working teams, developing new technology solutions applied to the water sector and managing projects focused on the digital transformation of the industry. When such technologies reach a certain degree of maturity, they are included in the GoAigua platform, thereby adding to its portfolio new innovative solutions for sewerage, water and waste water treatment, smart irrigation, security of physical spaces and chemical and microbiological analyses at set intervals, among others.
