Challenges and opportunities of online communication in times of COVID-19: case of WaterWorX WOP in Indonesia

Allowing data from different systems to appear in one dashboard without manual work. That is the challenge that Angela van den Berg, Information Architect at Oasen, in The Netherlands, is taking up with the WaterWorX team from the Indonesian partner water company Perumda Sragen.

The project kicked off to a good start at the beginning of 2020 during a company visit by van den Berg in Indonesia. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus threw a spanner in the works and the follow-up had to continue online.

In video conversations, language proved to be a barrier. According to van den Berg, “an interpreter translated the conversations, but the distance was an obstacle. It was difficult to get to in-depth discussions about what the local utility wanted and could do.”

“Microsoft Teams helped. Instead of having one-to-one conversations, we now do this in a team. Together we look simultaneously at the translated and shared documents. This is a good addition to the interpreter. We are now taking steps in the right direction. Perumda is now investigating whether existing reporting tools can be used or whether they should buy something else. The license for the automatic translation of chats to Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) has been requested from Microsoft, which should make communication even easier during the online meetings in Teams. Still, I look forward to being physically present again.”

Photo caption: Angela van den Berg, information architect at Oasen (left) discusses the possibilities of the Management Information System with the team of water company Perumda Sragen