Digital Transformation of Utility Services Using AI, Iot and ITSM Practices: Evidence from Water, Electricity and Waste Management Systems

Abstract

Digital transformation is now a strategic focus of providers of utility services aiming to increase the efficiency of their operations, the reliability and sustainability of their services. This paper looks into the operationally integrated use of artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and IT service management (ITSM) practices in the utility service industry with a particular emphasis on water, electricity and waste management industries. The research is meant to examine available digital change experiences and its working implications and not the development or assessment of new technical frameworks. They used a qualitative and comparative research design which was founded on a thematic analysis of academic literature of peer-reviewed articles, reports on utility cases, and industry. This analytical framework is centered on three approaches, namely the operational use of AI and IoT technologies, integration of ITSM practices in digital operations, and service and operational outcomes. Thematic patterns were highlighted and compared comparatively in the three utility sectors systematically. The findings reveal that IoT technologies present a base data layer of real-time monitoring of infrastructure and the state of services, and AI-based analytics mainly assist in identifying anomalies, predicting and optimising operations. Nevertheless, the results indicate that the maturity of ITSM practices has a significant effect on the operational value of such technologies. The utilities that incorporate AI- and IoT-generated insights into formalized incident, problem and change management procedures show more positive changes in response time, operational coordination and service continuity. Sector specific priorities can also be found with water utilities being concerned with resource efficiency and network reliability, electricity utilities and waste management services being concerned with asset reliability and regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency and service responsiveness respectively. The article emphasizes the importance of service governance in the transformation of digital capabilities into viable operational changes in utility services.