Sydney Water announced the appointment of Dominic Hatfield as general manager of Digital.
Roch Cheroux managing director of Sydney Water said, Hatfield joins the organisation after five years at one of Australia’s largest media companies News Corp, most recently leading the technology strategy as CIO.
Prior to his tenure at News Corp, Mr Hatfield spent over a decade as General Manager of IT at one of Australia’s largest retailers, David Jones.
“At Sydney Water, we are serious about digital transformation and Hatfield’s wealth of experience in this area, as well as his customer focused background, will guide the business as we evolve,” Cheroux said. “I’m very optimistic about the ways in which we can use our digital assets to support our customers as we continue to deliver world class water to Greater Sydney.”
In his role, Hatfield will be responsible for leading Sydney Water’s digital group to; transform the way the business works with data, insights and tools; develop the strategy around how Sydney Water operates and maintains its digital platforms; as well as transforming customers interaction and access to information.
“I am very excited to be joining Sydney Water at a time where digital transformation will play such a crucial role in determining the future shape of the organisation,” he said. “The recent digital investment strategy at Sydney Water has set a strong path to establishing the next generation of technology foundations on which to transform the organisation.
With this brings great opportunity for innovation and new approaches which is a journey that I am very much looking forward to being a part of.”
In July 2020, CIO Tech Asia reported Sydney Water’s CIO George Hunt announced his resignation on LinkedIn.
At the time, Hunt said he and his family will be moving back to the UK this “October (COVID permitting) in order to explore new work opportunities and also be near our friends and family”.
Hunt wrote, “when I reflect on my time at Sydney Water I feel very proud about the achievements of my digital team and our partners”.
“It has also been an absolute privilege to work for such a great company with great people, and also for an amazing Board of Directors,” he said. “Although I will be leaving Sydney Water with a heavy heart, I return to the UK”.
In August the NSW Government through Sydney Water, is trialling quantum sensing technology to detect leaking pipes and prevent major water main breaks.
At the time Sydney Water partnered with NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN), Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Canberra (UC) on the project.
Minister for Water, Property and Housing Melinda Pavey said with 23,000 km of underground water pipes across 13,000 square kilometers in the Great Sydney and Illawarra network the maintenance task is a huge one.
“Using the very best technological solutions creates opportunities to do things better and more efficiently and means we can detect problems before they escalate,” she said. “This means a more proactive approach that reduces the need for emergency work and customer disruption and prevents the loss of our precious water resource.”
Pavey said quantum sensing can see further underground than previous technologies to assess ground conditions without needing to dig.
“Quantum sensing technology measures the gravitational field of the subsurface by detecting density variations underground cause by water,” she noted. “A leak before a major break will cause water to leak into the surrounding soil. The soil changes from dry to wet, leading to a change in its density. Measuring this change in density helps us identify the location of the leak.”
Cheroux said Sydney Water were interested in any technology that ultimately leads to less disruption for their customers.
“The data from the trial will be analysed by our university partners to inform future use of the technology on the water network,” he said.
Tags: Sydney Water
