South East Water (SEW) has announced the new partner for its digital change programme.
While the water industry has traditionally been slow to adopt new technology, SEW aims to buck that trend with an ambitious five-year digital transformation strategy.
The company is collaborating with Qodea, Europe’s largest Google-only cloud partner, to bring together its previously disconnected tools under Google Workspace, enhance the delivery of real-time information to customers, and strengthen data security.
SEW provides drinking water to over 2.3 million customers throughout Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.
As part of its ambitious five-year digital transformation strategy, the company identified technology modernisation as a cornerstone for success.
SEW reviewed several providers in the market, before deciding that Google Workspace provided the best roadmap to support true change and modernisation.
And, having worked with Qodea previously on its data strategy and customer care application, SEW also decided they were the right partner for the task.
SEW believe that modernising with Google’s latest AI-powered technologies – such as Gemini – will revolutionise their customer and employee experiences, enhance collaboration and drive a culture of innovation.
Richard Bannister, Head of IT for South East Water, said: “Water is a 24/7 service, and risk management is crucial.
“While our industry has traditionally been slower to adopt new technology, we want to change that, and Workspace is the catalyst for that change.
“Other technologies felt more like upgrades, rather than true transformation. When Qodea introduced us to Google Workspace, I was genuinely excited. The core product stack is sleek and efficient, and the stream of planned innovation is impressive.
“The AI capabilities enabled by Gemini integration are a real game changer, we’re only just starting to roll these out but tools like NotebookLM and Agentspace will help unlock our data and provide much more insight to our people.”
SEW works with a diverse range of stakeholders – including field operatives, consultants, and customer care teams – making real-time collaboration essential.
However, a mix of disconnected tools adopted during the pandemic limited its efficiency. With evolving post-pandemic working patterns driving an increase in demand for the service, SEW needed a centralised, modern solution.
During discussions with Qodea, SEW rapidly identified several opportunities to enhance communication through new applications.
One key area was digitising manual processes for mobilising their teams on exceptional events, which had previously relied on scattered spreadsheets, texts, and chats.
Using Google Chromebooks and AppSheet, SEW is creating a centralised source that all stakeholders can access securely. This not only simplifies operations but also strengthens confidence in data security and reliability.
“Building apps in AppSheet has been a revelation. In just one day, we developed three apps that were nearly ready to launch,” Bannister added.
“Having the capacity to streamline communication will have a huge impact. For example, our duty of care to customers – especially those on the Priority Services Register (PSR) – depends on real-time information. Whether we need to update residents about a burst pipe, ensure bottled water deliveries for vulnerable individuals, up-to-date data is essential.”
“Partnering with SEW to redefine industry standards for digital efficiency and customer service is very exciting,” said Steve Franks, Head of Digital Workplace at Qodea. “The Google suite of workplace technologies is already powering SEW’s robust roadmap for modernisation, with Gemini and Agentspace providing new opportunities for the future of water management.”
“The great thing about Google and Qodea is that they are good at being ‘business forward’ – they understand our unique problems, and are invested in helping us succeed,” Bannister concluded.
“Qodea partnered with our team to build the business case and showed us where there might be compromises, as well as showing us the potential benefits. They’re very supportive, know their stuff, and came in with a full change programme – with everything from training and internal communications, as well as the Workspace implementation itself.”
