Isle Utilities Pty Limited

Isle is a boutique innovation consultancy whose goal is to accelerate the adoption of new technologies by the water sector. Isle has a team of 10 people delivering innovation programs and innovation consultancy projects to customers in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. The work that Isle does spans the end-to-end innovation framework, including the generation, evaluation and execution of innovation projects.

Over the last 10 years, Isle has been building an innovation ecosystem worldwide, and has thus optimised a technology adoption framework that has been proven in Australia and South EAst Asia. The value that Isle brings to its customers are as follows:

1. Proven technology adoption frameworks – Isle has developed a streamlined process of generating, evaluating and implementing new technologies. The team has developed international experience in this space for over 10 years.

2. Quality and diligence – Isle prides itself in its high quality of deliverables and excellent customer service, which stems from working collaboratively with each of our customers. We ensure each brief is met to a high standard.

3. Working effectively with diverse stakeholders ‐ The nature of Isle’s business (i.e. a cross between strategy and engineering) means that the team has the in‐depth technical background to communicate effectively with engineers and technical experts, but they also have a strong appreciation for what drives strategic business needs and decisions.

4. Extensive international network – Isle’s global network enables rapid market testing, vetting of technological claims and mapping of the competitive and regulatory landscapes for new technologies.

Organisational Capability

Isle is a boutique innovation consultancy whose goal is to accelerate the adoption of new technologies by the water sector. Isle has a team of 10 people delivering innovation programs and innovation consultancy projects to customers in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. The work that Isle does spans the end-to-end innovation framework, including the generation, evaluation and execution of innovation projects.

Over the last 10 years, Isle has been building an innovation ecosystem worldwide, and has thus optimised a technology adoption framework that has been proven in Australia and South EAst Asia. The value that Isle brings to its customers are as follows:

1. Proven technology adoption frameworks – Isle has developed a streamlined process of generating, evaluating and implementing new technologies. The team has developed international experience in this space for over 10 years.

2. Quality and diligence – Isle prides itself in its high quality of deliverables and excellent customer service, which stems from working collaboratively with each of our customers. We ensure each brief is met to a high standard.

3. Working effectively with diverse stakeholders ‐ The nature of Isle’s business (i.e. a cross between strategy and engineering) means that the team has the in‐depth technical background to communicate effectively with engineers and technical experts, but they also have a strong appreciation for what drives strategic business needs and decisions.

4. Extensive international network – Isle’s global network enables rapid market testing, vetting of technological claims and mapping of the competitive and regulatory landscapes for new technologies.

Projects

Innovation Partnership in the Philippine Market
Isle has been working with Metro Pacific Water in the Philippines since 2014 to design and deploy an industry-wide innovation program for the Philippine water market. This consists of a series of market-facing events and workshops including an annual technology showcase (called the Water Technology Summit), a capacity building workshop for 15 of the largest water districts in the country + Maynilad Water (called 'Confluence') and a technology adoption program for Metro Pacific Water's 7 subsidiary companies (called 'Group Innovation Alliance'). Two technologies have been successfully trialled in the last 12 months, including Rezatec's satellite analytics and R-TAP's pump optimisation technology. Another 4-5 opportunities are in the pipeline over the next 12 months ranging from in-pipe treatment technologies through to motor condition assessment technologies.
Water Technology Approval Group
TAG is a collaborative innovation forum established by Isle in 2011 to address the challenges faced by SMEs and start-ups in the ‘valley of death’. It successfully delivers a platform for technological innovation around the world by engaging industry during the research and pre-commercial stages of technology development, advising researchers and technology companies, facilitating collaboration and creating networks to ensure tangible benefits for innovative solution providers (technical and market entry support etc.) and end-users alike.
Global market attractiveness study for a portfolio of emerging water technologies
The objective of this project is to provide to the Client’s management and Board a global view of each region’s ‘openness to innovation’ in the water sector and to identify export markets for the Client’s products and services. A global view of ‘openness to innovation’ will allow the Client to make objective decisions on marketing its products and services. This capability will give the management more confidence to act more independently on a day-to-day basis and to operate in specific territories.
Technology partnership
SunWater engaged Isle as their ‘Technology Partner’ in Dec 2017 which includes the identification, evaluation and adoption of technologies in water resources and infrastructure, as well as facilitating the opportunity to collaborate with other utilities globally. Through this contract, Isle will leverage the relationships in the water utility sector globally to identify technologies and equip Sunwater with the required market intelligence to evaluate and implement new technologies.
Horizon scan for end-to-end water quality IoT system
A Queensland utility engaged Isle to undertake a horizon scan of water quality IoT technologies that are available or developing in the market. The idea is to present the full market landscape in the context of the water quality value chain to enable the water utility to prioritise area for research and investment.
Blücher have developed a novel adsorption media, SARATECH, a carbon-based adsorbent material which has shown good removal rates for emerging micropollutants such as organochlorine pesticides, herbicides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, perfluorinated chemicals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Blücher have completed several pilots in Germany, and are looking to expand into other markets, including Australia. Having introduced the technology to our TAG members, Isle examined the Australian market’s interest in treating micropollutants and that specific applications as they might apply. Areas examined included current guideline levels, legislative drivers, policy updates expected, operational preferences, activated carbon regeneration and current alternative technologies used.