WSD announces establishment of Digital Water Office

     The Water Supplies Department (WSD) announced today (June 17) the establishment of the Digital Water Office (the Office), merging the divisions within the WSD responsible for efficiency enhancement, digital modelling, and information systems. The Office will be dedicated to driving the digitalisation of water supply services.

     The Office is planning a series of short, medium and long-term initiatives. Through the establishment and implementation of an integrated data processing system, the Office aims to optimise existing waterworks infrastructure and customer services, providing higher quality and more environmentally friendly water supply services.

     In the short term, the Office will integrate application data to streamline the water supply application process in order to progressively facilitate business operations of high-water-consumption trades (including the catering sector), and launch a new mobile app to provide citizens with a convenient one-stop shop for water account and information services.

     In the medium term, the Office will promote the use of smart devices, digital twin technology, and artificial intelligence to gradually achieve full automation of operations in waterworks installations, making water supply services more efficient, stable and secure. The Office will also actively explore a wider use of remote sensors and robots to enhance emergency response capabilities and site safety.

     In the long run, the Office will formulate a digital water roadmap for implementing smart water infrastructure, including establishing a system of data management standards, the WSD Central Operations Management Centre, and an Internet of Things platform for the WSD, to achieve comprehensive online monitoring of the water supply system. A WSD cloud data centre will also be set up to safeguard data security.

     In addition, the WSD has established a joint working group with the Water Authority of the Shenzhen Municipality to deliberate on the development and application of digital water services in the two cities. The Office will continue to strengthen co-operation and exchanges with relevant authorities in Greater Bay Area cities on various aspects of digital water services, with the goal of building a "Digital Water Greater Bay Area" and promoting high-quality development.