Mother Nature's wrath was felt worldwide in 2022 – from a record-breaking heatwave in California to a devastating wildfire season that engulfed large swatches of land throughout Europe. In addition to the effects of climate disruption, utilities continue to face several of the same challenges highlighted in Itron's 2021 Resourcefulness Report, including incorporating distributed energy resources to preparing for electric vehicle adoption.

This year, our Resourcefulness Insight Report examines how real-time analytics can turn data into accurate insights that solve modern-day challenges. The fact is, there is no shortage of data. During the time it takes you to read this sentence, a staggering 11 MB of new data will be produced for every person on earth. By next year, the number of devices connected to networks will outnumber humans three times over – and in North America, there will be 13 connected devices for every person.

Every day, a staggering amount of data is created. Now we need to ask ourselves: how can data be used to solve our biggest challenges?

We set out to explore this topic in our ninth Resourcefulness Insight Report, "More Intelligence, More Possibilities: How Data is Transforming Utilities and Cities," which was released today at Itron Inspire 2022. The 2022 Resourcefulness Insight Report summarizes key findings of a commissioned independent research survey of 600 utility executives and 600 informed consumers from across five countries – United States, Australia, India, Spain and the U.K.

There has never been a more important time to focus on data and analytics. More than nine out of 10 utility executives (93%) surveyed view real-time data analytics as very or extremely important and it is little wonder why: Power and water providers globally face disruption on a historic scale—and in virtually every aspect of their business. So how can data and analytics help? Utility executives indicated these six use cases are most critical:

• Operational efficiency: For utilities and consumers, improving efficiency to lower costs was the most important use for real-time data and analytics. Utilities worldwide are facing rising operating costs and are looking to drive inefficiencies out of their business. AMI systems are a foundational layer of real-time data analytics for operational efficiency. It is the top technology deployed today and also the #1 investment priority over the next five years.
• New revenue streams: