CARIBBEAN-WATER-Seven Caribbean water utilities in IDB pilot project.

WASHINGTON -- The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched a pilot version of an innovative data-sharing platform within a virtual community for seven Caribbean water utilities.

It said seven utilities are participating in the data-sharing platform. They are the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) of the Bahamas, the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), the

Belize Water Services Limited (BWSL), the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI), the National Water Commission (NWC) of Jamaica, the N.V. Surinaamsche Waterleiding Maatschappij (SWM), in Suriname and the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) of Trinidad and Tobago.

The IDB said that through the platform, utilities can exchange real-time data on parts and materials, expediting mutual aid and ultimately cutting costs.

Through Source of Innovation, the IDB has partnered with H2bid, Inc. to provide a one-year pilot version of this platform, which is powered by AURSI.

The H2bid/AURSI platform is a unique virtual community with a network effect that connects utilities across various sectors, including water, wastewater, gas, and electricity. It aims to help Caribbean water utilities by providing access to replacement parts, encouraging discovery of new technologies, helping share technical information, such as specifications as well as promoting an exchange of best practices, policies, and procedures and reducing waste by making surplus items available to other Caribbean utilities.

The IDB said that this innovative pilot platform will streamline collaboration among Caribbean water utilities, enabling them to recover from climate-related disasters caused by increasingly frequent and severe storms.

Additionally, it addresses current supply chain challenges by expediting mutual aid during emergencies to restore service quickly.

The IDB said users at utilities will have the opportunity to connect with their peers from other participating utilities through the virtual community.

During the pilot phase, the IDB and participating...