Digital Transformation in Water: Collective Efforts Shaping the Future of the Sector

The water sector is undergoing a digital transition, driven by complex challenges such as climate change, sustainability targets, increased demand, and stricter regulations. By embracing technologies like cloud-based analytics, AI, and Digital Twins, the sector can effectively leverage data to overcome operational, regulatory, and organizational hurdles. At KWR, we are deeply involved in exploring, developing and implementing digital transformation strategies for the drinking water and the wastewater sector. Additionally, we have experience in testing new digital technologies and tailoring them to be fit-for-purpose for water specific use cases.

It’s no surprise that Digital Water was a key focus for KWR at the IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition 2024 in Toronto. With our new perspective on Hydroinformatics—integrating data, models, and the risks aspects—KWR researchers organized and presented our approach and work in various sessions throughout the event.

Additionally, we hosted an engaging activity at the KWR & Friends Booth in the form of a Digital Water Rapid Fire Quiz, our second edition following its debut in Copenhagen in 2022.

The quiz featured four teams of two players each, including notable participants such as Cor Felton the Operations Manager at Groningen Drinking Water Utility in the Netherlands; Janelcy Alferes who is the R&D Project Leader in Monitoring Technology & Digital Water at VITO in Belgium; Ong Tze Chin who is the Chief Executive of PUB Singapore; Amin Minae, a PhD Candidate at Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck; Professor Harsha Ratnaweera of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Distinguished Fellow of IWA; Rahul Satish who is also a PhD Candidate at Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck; Riksta Zwart who is the Director of Groningen Drinking Water Utility; and a Digital Twin Specialist form Idrica, Martha Hervás Carot.

The event was a vibrant success and attracted significant attention, showcasing the growing interest and intrigue surrounding digital transformation within the scientific and professional communities of the water sector. It also underscored the importance of the human factor in this transformation—namely, the employees within water utilities and their customers. The quiz proved to be challenging for our contestants as it was not a high-scoring game, highlighting the broad and complex nature of Digital Water and the need for further understanding of these rapidly advancing technologies.

At KWR, we believe that digital transformation is a multidisciplinary effort that requires diverse expertise and the involvement of all levels within an organization—much like the diverse demographics of our quiz panellists! As Ong Tze Chin mentioned in his keynote session on Tuesday the day before, digital transformation is, at its core, a business transformation process. It requires organizations to be both innovative and ambitious to truly reap its benefits.

At KWR, we remain committed to co-creating with our partners, enabling the water sector to collectively transform their operations and embrace smart, data-driven decision-making.

Reach out to us to learn more!