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Digital Innovation Challenges of EYDAP / EESYP Innovation Network in collaboration with MITEF Greece

Open Competition

EYDAP, in collaboration with the Innovation Network of HCAP and MITEF Greece, designed an “incentive prize competition” — an original, open competition for technological innovations. It was launched in November 2020 and concluded in March 2022, aiming to attract participation from startups, teams of scientists, and university research centers.

A total of 162 applications were submitted by both domestic and international teams, aiming to provide innovative solutions to two challenges.

Challenges

The contestants were invited to provide innovative solutions to the following two challenges:

A. The development of an algorithm that, using historical measurement data, can predict which water consumption meters are faulty.

B. The development of an algorithm that, using historical measurement data, can predict the future consumption of a supply point over the medium term.

Predictions could be based on a variety of parameters related to the measurement history, the type of meter, the date and geographical location of the installation, as well as data from third-party sources. All of the above will contribute to the creation of an intelligent meter operation model that can significantly aid in the timely and effective detection of faults, thereby reducing unnecessary water waste. Additionally, predicting the consumption of a supply point can improve the efficiency of the company by allowing less frequent physical readings by personnel or enabling consumer participation in the process.

Guidance

After evaluating the applications, 76 teams were selected to participate in a mentorship program led by a group of EYDAP executives, aimed at supporting them in developing the solutions they would submit.

Evaluation

The participating teams were evaluated based on the accuracy of the predictions of the model they submitted.

For the challenge of predicting defective water meters, 18 teams submitted solutions, and more than 350 water meters were replaced in order to verify in the field whether these meters were defective or not. Regarding the prediction of defective meters, each participating team submitted a ranked list of water meters based on the estimated deviation from the actual water flow rate, ordered from the largest to the smallest deviation. To generate these estimates, they had access to meter data, a file of meter replacements, consumption data from previous years, fault data with corresponding geographic location, and the option to use any open data sets. For the evaluation of the solutions, EYDAP’s technicians selected the top twenty water meters proposed by each team and proceeded with their replacement from the network and their transfer to the water meter laboratory.
At EYDAP’s Water Meter Laboratory testing facilities, which follow the requirements of the ISO 4185 standard, error testing was conducted to determine the deviation of each water meter. The total deviation for each team’s meters was calculated according to the evaluation procedure that was defined and presented during the teams’ mentorship program. This allowed ranking the solutions by the highest success rate to identify the leading teams. The teams that predicted the meters with the greatest deviation — i.e., the most defective ones — were the winners of the first challenge of the competition.

Regarding the consumption prediction challenge, solutions were submitted by 23 teams, with each participating team providing their consumption forecasts for specific EYDAP supply points covering defined time periods. To generate these predictions, they had access to consumption data from previous years, tariff profile data, as well as the ability to use any open data sets. Subsequently, for each submission, the EYDAP team calculated the deviation from the actual consumption both at the individual supply point level and for the total consumption. The teams with the smallest estimated deviation from the actual consumption were the winners of the second challenge of the competition.

Winners

The two leading teams for each challenge received a cash prize and an offer of a collaboration framework for the competition winners, for the pilot implementation of the solution they proposed and potentially the development of new features based on the provided solution.