Safaricom has partnered with the Kenya Water Institute to deploy a Smart Water System at the Kenya Water Institute’s Nairobi and Kitui campuses to facilitate practical training.
This is in a bid to build capacity in the water sector, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 6 that seeks to ensure availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation for all. It will additionally co-create and run a Smart Water Management curriculum for students at the institution.
Smart Water Management entails leveraging the internet of things (IoT) technologies in managing the abstraction, production, distribution, and consumption of water. The smart water meters provide an effective way of collecting data online in real-time. They ensure effective monitoring of utility consumption data thereby detecting loss & leakage, ensuring accurate billing, enhancing revenue collection, improving operational efficiency, and as a result saving costs.
Peter Ndegwa, Chief Executive Officer, Safaricom, had this to say, “Safaricom is committed to its vision of being a purpose-led technology company by 2025. As part of this journey, we continue to partner with stakeholders to bring this vision to life. We recognise the importance of working with training institutions on relevant technology skills and onboarding the young generation in our Internet of Things (IoT) process as early as possible. We understand the place of IoT and as such we continue to embrace different technologies. Central to creating the Smart Meter and making it work is the IoT technology. It is at the heart of the new digital world and is already transforming business models and opening new products and services at a spectacular rate. Generated data can be used to boost efficiency, cut costs, save utility, and help your consumers organise their lives better.
The Kenya Water Institute is the body mandated by the government to carry out capacity development for the water sector. The institute also provides short courses for water
service providers and as such KEWI is best placed to partner with Safaricom to tailor the Smart Water Management curriculum.