Helping achieve water neutrality in the energy industry and beyond.

Ensuring the availability of water is one of the world’s key sustainable development challenges, as billions of people globally lack access to adequate water. Water access, management and recycling are also critical challenges for oil and gas operations; the industry produces nearly 10 barrels of water for every barrel of oil equivalent.

Working closely with Ecopetrol and Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), we are developing a first-of-its-kind solution for water intelligence and management to help advance sustainability and operational efficiencies for energy companies.

This new solution, to be housed on an open platform, addresses the entire water lifecycle—from access to treatment, recycle/reuse and disposal—enabling organizations to seek water neutrality alongside net-zero carbon emissions for a sustainable future.?

?The introduction of the project comes as water continues to be a vital resource for developing Ecopetrol’s operations, as well as for the communities in the areas where it operates. Companies have historically driven financial, security and agility benefits through cloud technology, but sustainability has become an imperative. According to the latest UNGC-Accenture Strategy CEO Study, more than 99% of CEOs from large companies now agree that “sustainability issues are important to the future success of their businesses.”??

?Water sustainability is top of mind for many industrial companies. Indeed, this solution will extend beyond the energy sector to help companies across industries meet their water resource challenges.?

?A cloud-based water management solution can serve as a single source of data helping to connect existing ad hoc information (such as volume, quality and cost optimization options). It can be used to apply advanced analytics to optimize water management.?And it is the foundation needed to build an ecosystem where data can be shared to promote water reuse within and between industries.

?It is consistent with Ecopetrol’s “Generate value through TESG (Technology, Environment, Social and Corporate Governance)” strategic pillar, which aims to contribute to the growth of the economic value of Ecopetrol by creating conditions for sustainable development that allow the consolidation of operations and viability of businesses. They are building sustainability into the fabric of their operations, what we called Sustainable Purpose in our 2021 Business Futures report, by committing for example to zero water discharges by 2045.

?This new effort is the latest example of how businesses can unlock greater sustainability and financial performance through a cloud-first platform and data-led transformation. We can now use digital technology and an open platform to turn data into an enterprise-wide decision-making capability. By building a data-driven culture with insights at the fingertips of the workforce, Ecopetrol is leading the way in how technology and innovation can create meaningful change that’s good for business and for the planet.

The opportunities across industries are vast. Message me if you’d like to talk further about transforming your organization’s sustainability challenges through the cloud.