Sustainable Innovation: Designing the future of water infrastructure with AI

Water scarcity is not a new topic - at least 50 percent of the planet's population faces water shortfalls at least one month of the year. According to a study by the UN Environment Programme, “1.8 billion people are likely to face what the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) calls “absolute water scarcity””.

These impending issues lead to rising opportunities for innovative solutions that help achieve sustainable growth. MVP Factory partnered with the Water Research Center UK & Venture Lab Niterra Group to develop an AI-driven platform, WiseWater AI, that aims to revolutionize the water sector by providing tools for predictive and comparative infrastructure investment analysis. 

This blog highlights the ask, the process, and the MVPF approach to creating impactful digital products, serving as a testament to our capabilities and a lead generation tool. 

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Industry Needs open new door for innovation

The water sector is grappling with rising contamination levels from industries - more than 40% of water is severely polluted, leading to 3 billion people at health risk.  

Some of the leading causes of this are the pharmaceutical industry, which introduces harmful bacteria into water bodies, decreasing availability of water, and outdated infrastructure that struggles to meet modern demands. 

Even in developed countries like Germany and the UK, there remains a shortage of easily available data and resources to make informed decisions. The current scenario has led to an urgent need for innovative solutions that can provide reliable, actionable insights. 

Our partner, Niterra Venture Lab, identified this growing opportunity in the sector and approached MVP Factory to support the transformative journey of revolutionizing the water infrastructure landscape.

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WiseWater AI at the intersection of sustainability and tech 

Pushing towards active innovation against water scarcity, the MVPF and Niterra Venture lab solution, WiseWater AI is an AI-driven platform designed to help the water sector predict and compare infrastructure investments. 

The platform enables users to compare different investment options based on cost, environmental impact, and the lifespan of the infrastructure, ensuring that water investments are sustainable and cost-effective. 

Leveraging emerging technologies for growth - the MVPF approach

MVP Factory employed a strategic, lean product development strategy to tackle the challenges faced by the water sector that not only meets the business needs of the client but also allows them to stay competitive with technologies like Artificial Intelligence. 

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• Defining the Target Group:

The first step was to define the potential users and prioritize the initial reference group in the water sector, such as water utility companies, contractors for treatment plants, asset managers, consultants, and regulators.

For this, we collaborated with the Water Research Center (WRC) to incorporate data in the decision-making that allows us to gather industry insights and identify pain points.

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• Rapid Prototyping:

With the trademark fail-first mentality, the team leveraged OpenAI APIs and built a prototype that integrated local tools and platforms, enabling quick and efficient testing of technical feasibility. The objective was to gather customer responses to the initial hypotheses, leading to rapid iteration and refinement based on user feedback. 

“For the quick building and testing of an MVP, the user’s voice must be heard above all else. Instead of focusing on shiny, sleek solutions that offer little utility,” Philipp Petrescu, Founder at MVP Factory. 

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• User-centricity at forefront: 

MVP Factory established a feedback loop with our target group and utilized agile methodology to establish flexibility and responsiveness throughout the project. 

With our partner, WRC, we synced with the user base and learned their insights desirability, feasibility, and viability of the solution. The objective was to validate that the product we’re building is solving a real problem and meeting the actual needs of end users.

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The first results promise strong user interest

Early user feedback has yielded significant positive outcomes. With 16 leads generated from a landing page advertisement campaign and additional leads from LinkedIn outreach and WRC’s network, the marketing sprint demonstrated a clear demand for the solution. 

The platform has garnered a strong pulse for this topic, validating the approach and confirming the platform's potential to address critical challenges in the water sector. 

The initial testing confirmed that by providing a comprehensive tool for comparing infrastructure investments, the platform empowers stakeholders to make better-informed decisions that balance cost, environmental impact, and sustainability. 

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What lies ahead in the project timeline

With the initial results validating the hypothesis, the project team plans to push forward WiseWater AI as a use-case of the power of combining industry expertise with cutting-edge AI technology to drive digital transformation. 

“With AI and rapid prototyping, we could put the ‘quick-and-dirty’ version of our product to the market, allowing for early testing and cost-effective innovation. The success of this project underscores MVP Factory's capability to deliver innovative solutions that address complex challenges while empowering companies to keep up with the market trends,” - Marie Combes, Partner, MVP Factory. 

Curious how your company can achieve sustainable business excellence and stay ahead of the competition? Reach out to me - let's talk about how to build an innovation journey personalized to your business needs and target audience. 

About the author: Project Lead for WiseWater AI, David Geffroy is the Senior Venture Architect at MVP Factory. With past experience in building successful ventures like Third Nature, David aims to push WiseWater AI as an efficient use-case of leveraging emerging tech like AI for expanding business growth and offering sustainable offerings.