From recovery to resilience: coronavirus drives digital trend

One of the most remarkable aspects of the world’s initial encounter with coronavirus is what did not happen to water systems. By and large, the world’s water utilities did not buckle under the operational pressures of contagion and social distancing. Communities did not generally lose access to the water services they needed to wash their hands and maintain hygiene. If anything, some...

Another factor that contributed to the sector’s resilience through the crisis is the diffusion of digital technology. Utilities striving to maintain operational continuity with fewer people on site were forced, to an unprecedented degree, to adopt remote workflows. And while most succeeded through sheer force of will, those who had made systemic investments in digitizing their processes and...

Coronavirus will prove to be a turning point in the digital transformation of the water sector for another reason: economic necessity. The sector will not escape the macroeconomic devastation that is coronavirus’s enduring legacy. As the sector moves from survival to recovery mode, financial concerns will join operational resilience at the top of the list of challenges facing our sector. If...

While the coronavirus crisis has brought unprecedented challenges to the water sector, it may also be the turning point for a paradigm shift that has been years in the making. By revealing the impossibility of continuing with business as it was before the pandemic, the negative economic effects from coronavirus can accelerate needed structural change, bolstering the long-term resilience of the...

Albert Cho is vice president and general manager at Xylem, headquartered in Rye Brook, New York, US. Cho also serves on the editorial advisory board of World Water.