IBM and Veolia form new partnership on water, energy and waste management

Technology company IBM, and Veolia, a municipal services provider, have announced a new partnership to help cities improve the efficiency of municipal systems by a data-driven approach.

Announced during the Smart City Expo and World Congress in Barcelona, the two companies will first focus on delivering solutions for water using IBM’s intelligent water software.

“If you think about the structure of cities there are three different levels; instrumentation, interconnectedness and analytics,” Michael Dixon, General Manager, IBM Smarter Cities, told Cities Today. “We are very much focused on the analytics and Veolia is focused on the operational activity. We have a sound understanding of each other with complementary skills.”

In Lyon, France and Tidworth, UK, the solutions from the partnership are already being implemented. Data is integrated across the municipal water management systems of which the cities are applying advanced analytics to spot trends, patterns, make predictions and provide a systems-level view of operations. IBM and Veolia claim that this will contribute to more efficient water management, improved reduction of waste and better cost controls for its clients.

“Veolia supplies millions of people with water, energy and waste management services every day,” said Antoine Frérot, Chairman and CEO of Veolia. “By combining our deep expertise with IBM’s data-driven insight, Veolia is creating a paradigm shift in urban management which in turn will help cities improve efficiency and deliver better services to citizens.”

The solutions for energy and wastewater are expected to be rolled out and made available in 2015.