Water Industry Innovation Conference: cultural transformation and game-changing technology

Utility Week Innovate WWT’s upcoming Water Industry Innovation Conference seeks to foster collaborative problem solving, learning and proactive thinking in the face of global challenges.

Never has there been a more exciting nor testing time to work in the UK water industry, with innovation poised to play a key role in addressing global challenges and unprecedented pressures in the form of climate change, population growth, customer engagement, leakage and pollution to name a few.

With this in mind, Utility Week Innovate WWT’s upcoming Water Industry Innovation Conference – which also features a Collaborative Innovation training course –  boasts an interactive agenda and stellar speaker line-up offering a timely opportunity to gain the necessary inspiration to meet these pressing issues with confidence.

Across a packed schedule comprising 20 expert speakers, the Conference will capture the mood of what is a critical moment for the sector and run the rule over the latest developments underpinning cultural transformation and game-changing technology in water.

Supporting innovative thinking through the Innovation in Water Challenge

Harry Armstrong, director regulatory policy at Ofwat, will kick off proceedings by reflecting on the first year of Ofwat’s Innovation Fund and Innovation in Water Challenge – the £200 million Fund which puts innovation at the heart of industry strategy – before UKWIR CEO Steve Kaye previews the imminent launch of a Centre of Excellence hub for the water sector.

Fostering Innovation: Key challenges & opportunities in water

Identifying factors that can help or hinder collaborative innovation will also come into focus with commentators including Professor Tony Conway – director of Conway Strategic Water Consulting and one of the moderators of the conference’s Collaborative Innovation training course – and United Utilities’ head of Innovation Kieran Brocklebank unpicking some of the key drivers shaping creative thinking in water.

Sustainability, net zero & circular economy in water

A number of sector leaders recently dissected the impact of COP26 on the water sector’s fluid roles and responsibilities in tackling environmental challenges and where innovation fits in. Tony Harrington, director of environment at Welsh Water went as far as to suggest that with the arrival of Spring – the new innovation body being set up by UKWIR – the water sector was “well ahead of COP” in that it already collaborates well on research, with Spring poised to build on that to drive collaboration and cooperation in innovation.

In light of this, experts such as Wessex Water’s head of sustainability and innovation, Dan Green and Harrington will round-off this year’s event by sharing perspectives on creating a circular economy in the UK water sector and working with other sectors to drive innovative solutions.

You can find more information on this year’s Water Industry Innovation Conference and book your place here