Data Analysis in the Water Industry: A Good-Practice Guide with application to SW Deborah Gee, Efthalia Anagnostou Water Statistics User Group - Scottish Water OR54, September 2012 OR54, September 2012

Outline of the talk  Introducing the Business & Team  Project Background  The Data Analysis Spiral  Other things included in the Guide  Key messages

Our Business supply water to 2.4m households & 152,000 businesses we manage ~97,000km of buried pipes & ~2,100 treatment works we have 3,700 staff and revenue of £1bn per year Scottish Water aims to: provide high quality affordable water protect and enhance the environment support Scotland’s communities and economy What the business does:

Our Team: an in-house analytics team  Vision: grow the value of analytics in the water industry  Skill sets: statistics, operational research, computing & asset risk management  Services: develops analytical tools to support the business and in particular asset decision making.  Partnerships: Universities and Industrial Groups RISK CONSORTIUM

Project Background The Water Statistics User Group 3 knowledge elicitation workshops Final draft and update to WSUG Presentation at the IAM conference Publish Guide More demand for data driven-decision making in asset management, shares statistical approaches & promote good practice data analysis across the water industry. Jul May 2011 Nov 2011 May 2012 Development approach Motivation ? thus a growing need for an in-depth data analysis.

Part I: Data analysis spiral Part II: Basic analysis health checks & case studies

Data Analysis Spiral Capture Stakeholder Requirements Gather Business Data Conduct Exploratory Data Analysis Develop Analysis Publish Results & Identify Opportunities for Improvement Acceptance Test Increasing Maturity Increasing acceptance Validate Analysis

Data Analysis Spiral Capture Stakeholder Requirements Acceptance Test Business need is formulated and confirmed with stakeholders. The format of the outputs are agreed with the stakeholders. The appropriate level of uncertainty is agreed with stakeholders. 1

Data Analysis Spiral Gather Business Data Conduct Exploratory Data Analysis The analyst challenges the data quality and develops a good understanding of the data composition. Data is obtained from robust corporate data sources or appropriate data collection mechanisms are put in place. A clear audit trail for the data is established. 2 3

Data Analysis Spiral Develop Analysis Validate Analysis Pragmatism of the outputs is challenged against expert knowledge. An robust methodology is designed, documented and applied to the data. Underlying assumptions are examined and accuracy of the outputs is assessed. 4 5

Data Analysis Spiral Publish Results & Identify Opportunities for Improvement Recommendations for improvement are identified and the maturity of the analysis is assessed. Outputs from the current iteration of the spiral are finalised and released to the stakeholders. Documentation is prepared for technical and non-technical audiences, alongside training material. 6

Data Analysis Spiral Capture Stakeholder Requirements Acceptance Test A further iteration of the Data Analysis Spiral is initiated if the stakeholder is not satisfied. Stakeholders provide detailed feedback to the analyst. 7

Other things included in the guide examples of best-practice for each step of the Spiral. describe potential consequences when best-practice is not applied the analyst provides the stakeholder with analysis proposal the data can be audited documentation is version controlled Case Studies Analysis Health Checks a simple to-do list real-world

What are the key messages? Using the good practice guide, analysts can demonstrate transparency, consistency and quality in their analysis. The growing need for robust data analysis and data management is reflected across all asset management sectors. Within SW the guide…  is a benchmark for assessing data analysis.  creates a standard process for data analysis which meets the requirements for ISO9001.  inform stakeholders of what good analysis is.

If you would like a copy of the guide please contact us: Thank you