Acea Waidy Wow – The Water and Environment friendly app

Water has always been a source of life and development. Ancient civilizations used to settle along riverbanks where they would build villages that over the centuries would become vast cities: this is what happened in Rome, built on the banks of the River Tiber.

Today the world has changed, it has become digital, but water continues to be the most important and essential resource for communities and territories: a resource to discover and valorize. This is the criteria at the foundation of Waidy Wow – the water and environment friendly app. “Our aim is to create a water community formed by people who care about environmental sustainability and use water responsibly. Waidy Wow was created with the intent of reducing the use of disposable plastic, also thanks to the use of reusable water bottles, and enhancing the beauty of the territory, starting from water sources and distribution points.” Says Marco Roncucci, Team Waidy.

The Waidy Wow app has been available since August 2020 for Android and iOS, and around 50,000 water points throughout the country have been mapped to date.

The community of the future for environmental sustainability

Waidy Wow is also an amplifier of simple gestures. Its features help users take care of a precious resource such as water.

The Waidy project aims to create an ecosystem of smart products, which contribute to the formation of a community that looks after water through digital technology.

People who download the app are involved in this process with initiatives aimed at increasing their engagement, so that users become true ambassadors of water and the environment.

In Waidy, everyone can discover their own contribution in achieving global sustainability goals: saving CO2 by choosing to drink smart improves the quality of life of individuals and of the entire community.

Our idea is based on small simple gestures that generate social value for the local community, such as providing other users or the water supplier with information about drinking water fountains or using refillable water bottles.

Marco Roncucci, team Waidy

How the Acea Waidy Wow app came about

It all started thanks to the work of a group of Acea employees who took part in Innovation Garage, the company’s internal entrepreneurship program designed to promote a culture of innovation and bring value to new ideas. Waidy Wow, that was among the over 100 candidates at Call 4 Ideas, was selected as one of the three finalists and was able to participate in the incubation process. “A twelve-week development sprint for the first prototype of the project," says Patrizia Spisso, team of Waidy Wow.

The app encourages users to adopt positive behaviors that benefit the entire community. It also represents a great opportunity for the team that came up with the project, as well as for the Acea Group and the local community.

Suddenly we received an invitation from the Municipality of Rome. It was incredible. We looked at each other and said: are we really doing this? We only realized it was happening when we started presenting our app.

Stefano Creatini, team Waidy

Without doubt, one of the strong points of this project is the interdisciplinary aspect that involves different fields of action and roles. It was based on the organizational model of a start-up: few people that need to be able to take care of different aspects. This model was a success and allowed all members of the team to learn new skills and generate value in other company projects, for example, by starting communication initiatives to promote the culture of water and the beauty of the territory.

“Many of us work in a completely different field. While developing the app, we had to deal with a variety of departments – e.g., for legal aspects and contracts, cyber security, privacy, suppliers, as well as communications – and we discovered a new world. Working with them allowed us to explore not just the functionalities of the app but also aspects linked with the storytelling to promote Waidy.” Stefano explains.

Waidy step by step

November 2021

Launch of the Waidy Wow radio powered by Lifegate

October 2021

Waidy Wow and borghi magazine together for sustainability

July 2021

Presentation of the new release of Acea Waidy Wow app

June 2021

Creation of Cinema & Water Route

October 2020

Opening of the first Acea School creative contest

August 2020

Android and IOS app launch

June 2020

Brand registration

December 2019

Final presentation and project launch

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Hydro-film Experience

A new feature offers themed routes to discover which of Rome’s fountains are linked to the history of cinema. Artistic fountains, the characteristic Nasoni, and aqueducts have become familiar features of the Capital’s landscape and now users will have the opportunity to explore the locations that appeared in famous films. The route is part of a narrative that creates a map dotted with locations that left a mark in the cultural life of the City, building a model that brings value to urban spaces on a national and international level. The itinerary, comprising 14 stops, starts from the Gianicolo Hill Fountain and unwinds along the narrow streets of the historic center until it reaches Parco degli Acquedotti. All along the route, users will be guided by the voices of two journalists and film critics.

Learn more

The waterways

A special initiative promotes slow and zero-impact tourism through thematic itineraries, The waterways. Waidy Wow has started a collaboration with Borghi Magazine (The most beautiful villages in Italy) which guides us to discover the artistic and cultural heritage along the waterways in the areas serviced by Acea Group.

For a greener future

Since August 2020, the community keeps growing and keeps participating in the exploration of the water distribution points across the territory, adopting positive behaviors for environmental sustainability. The entire Waidy Wow plant is designed and developed to improve the lifestyle of users, promote values and habits characterized by respect for the environment and to make a real contribution to sustainable development.

Waidy Management System

Waidy Management System – the newcomer in the Waidy ecosystem - is the Acea’s Cloud Native solution for the management and protection of water resources, designed and realized together with NTT DATA Italia and installed on Google Cloud infrastructure. Acea’s approach to sustainability is oriented towards giving a relevant contribution to the achievement of six Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, including SDG number 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Highlights

Discover the latest news and initiatives of the Acea Group