Microsoft and its partners announce water risk analysis and financial modeling tool

Microsoft today announced its partnership with Ecolab and Trucost to launch the Water Risk Monetizer tool in New York City. The Water Risk Monetizer is the first publicly available financial modeling tool that enables businesses to factor current and future water risks into decision making. It now helps businesses understand the impact of water quantity and quality on their operations and offers insights to make more sustainable business decisions. The impacts of decreasing availability and declining water quality are now incorporated into the Water Risk Monetizer risk assessment.

“The market price of water in most of the world does not account for quantity and quality risks,” said Libby Bernick, global head of Corporate Business for Trucost, part of S&P Dow Jones Indices. “This disconnect between the market price and value of water makes it difficult for businesses to substantiate investments in strategies that address water risks. By utilizing Trucost’s data, analytics and insight, the Water Risk Monetizer seeks to quantify water quality risks and the potential impact of water scarcity on a facility to help businesses make better informed decisions on water strategies and management.”

“At Microsoft, we see a great opportunity to use the cloud, IoT and machine learning to transform water management,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president of worldwide commercial business for Microsoft Corp. “We have worked with Ecolab and Trucost to develop a secure solution that can listen, learn and predict. The Water Risk Monetizer tool, powered by our cloud technologies, is able to turn data into actionable insights to transform the way every business consumes and manages water.”

New features of the Water Risk Monetizer include:

• Assessment of incoming water risk based on water quantity and quality
• Assessment of outgoing water risk based on water quality
• Enterprise risk profile based on three-year projected output growth and location-specific water stress
• Incorporation of reputational risk exposure provided in partnership with RepRisk
• Enhanced user interface and functionality including the ability to organize and sort facilities, and rank them based on risk level to make it easier to prioritize action

Learn more about Water Risk Monetizer here.