When water industry professionals gathered in Sydney for the 4th SWAN Asia-Pacific Workshop, the message was clear: the sector has reached its digital tipping point. Over the course of a day, speakers from utilities, research institutions, and private technology firms explored how the industry can balance people, technology, and policy in an increasingly complex environment.
Sydney Water’s Head of Operational Technology, Craig Earl, opened the workshop by reminding delegates that digital transformation is more than a technical challenge.
“What we do is hard, but it’s worthwhile,” he said, calling on participants to “look after each other as we look after our networks.”
Aligning people, technology and policy
The workshop’s theme, “The Digital Utility Tipping Point: Aligning People, Technology, and Policy,” captured the spirit of a region trying to transform rapidly without leaving people behind. Sydney Water’s Chief Financial Officer, Dean Page, set the tone with a keynote that explored how utilities can utilise artificial intelligence ethically and transparently.
“Digital transformation is no longer optional,” Page said. “From predictive maintenance to AI-driven asset management, the utility sector is rapidly becoming a data-driven ecosystem. The question is not what AI can do, but what it should do, and how we set its boundaries.”
Page outlined Sydney Water’s early AI use cases, including machine learning for wastewater network inspections and computer vision to map critical assets. Yet he cautioned that digital adoption must always remain “human-centred, fair, transparent and accountable.”
The human tipping point
A later panel, The Tipping Point Is Human, Not Digital, took that concept further. Moderated by Jenny Francis from Hunter Water, it featured digital leaders from across Australia.
“Transformation in water isn’t about technology; it’s about people,” Francis said in her introduction.
Sydney Water’s Chief Digital Officer, Sridhar Pydipati, argued that technology succeeds only when governance and delivery align with culture.
“Whoever owns the benefits, owns the transformation,” he said. “It’s not IT’s job to deliver change; it’s the organisation’s job to own it.”
Urban Utilities’ Martine Watson added that adaptation, not technology, is now the sector’s biggest challenge.
“Technology has never moved faster. What worries me is our ability to adapt. Our business systems aren’t built to change at this pace,” she said.
For Icon Water’s Tony Pollock, success begins with shared trust.
“Get people on board and make sure they have buy-in across the business,” he said. “Humans with large ambitions can underestimate risk, but trust keeps transformation on track.”
Procurement and partnerships
Procurement emerged as another critical point of friction and opportunity. In a panel moderated by Barwon Water’s Wayne Pales, speakers called for more agile approaches to contracting and service delivery.
“Digital transformations can’t succeed without effective relationships,” Pales said. “Too often, things fall down during the procurement process.”
New South Wales Water Directorate Executive Officer Brendan Guiney explained how smaller councils struggle to access digital infrastructure.
“We work across 700,000 square kilometres with small teams that have to provide the same service Sydney Water provides,” he said. “The opportunity is there; we just need funding and skills to match it.”
Jacobs’ Clarissa Phillips outlined how her team is helping to build that roadmap.
“A lot of these utilities don’t have any telemetry or GIS. Once they’re digitised, they can move from analogue to medium, and eventually to high digital maturity with AI and machine learning,” she said.
From New Zealand, Watercare’s Campbell Scott described how his utility uses lean agile procurement to fast-track solutions while maintaining transparency.
“You get the shortlisted vendors in the same room. They all present, they all negotiate, and the best fit rises to the top,” he explained.
Lessons from the smart metering frontier
Smart metering featured prominently throughout the day, with utilities across the region sharing successes and setbacks.
David Peters of Taggle Systems led a candid discussion on the hype, hope and hard reality of large-scale rollouts.
South East Water’s Dan Sullivan said the utility is now installing 15,000 smart meters a month.
“Digital metering is an important part of our response to climate change,” he said. “It helps us conserve water, identify leaks faster and plan infrastructure more efficiently.”
Goulburn Murray Water’s Mark Williams shared how early adoption reshaped his operations.
“The biggest challenge now is bringing all that data together,” he said. “It’s about using the information for better management, not just collection.”
WSAA’s Hadis Zare presented the national state of play. Her survey found that while many utilities are running pilots, only a handful have achieved full-scale deployment.
“We’ve made progress, but the pace remains slow,” she said. “Quantifying the benefits and building strong business cases remain key challenges.”
From data to delivery
By the closing session, collaboration was the word on everyone’s lips. Participants agreed that the sector’s digital tipping point will depend on sharing data, lessons and risks more openly.
“The real challenge isn’t the technology,” said one facilitator during the roundtable recap. “It’s agreeing on definitions, frameworks and trust so that digital becomes an enabler, not a burden.”
As the harbour shimmered outside the Sydney venue, Earl offered his final reflection.
“What we do makes a tangible difference to our customers, to our environment and to our communities,” he said. “Let’s remember to care for each other as we deliver the hard things.”
That sense of purpose carried through the day: a recognition that digital technology is only as powerful as the people who use it. If this year’s workshop proved anything, it is that the tipping point for water’s digital future has arrived, and it will be driven by collaboration.
For more information, visit swan-forum.com