Pre-event: Afternoon – Monday, February 25
Towards Zero Leakage
A half-day, in-depth seminar and workshop programme developed in partnership with the UK Department for International Trade and Northumbrian Water exploring the question: How can the global water industry realistically achieve the ambitious target of zero leakage?
Find out more
Register
Pre-event: Evening – Monday, February 25
The World Water-Tech Thames River Cruise
The World Water-Tech Thames River Cruise, setting off from Tower Pier, will be an evening of informal networking, a water quiz and a classic British ‘pub grub’ supper. Open to all delegates and strictly limited to max. 80 guests.
Find out more
Register
Day One —
February 26 Morning
8.55
Welcome Remarks
9.00
Keynote Address: Digital Transformation – Learnings from Outside the Water Sector
Looking outside the water industry to a global company that had to substantially pivot the business to embrace digital potential and a rapidly evolving market.
9.15
Policy, Regulation and Technology: Driving Forward Collaborative Innovation
– What are the successful regulatory drivers that support utilities to deploy advanced technologies?
– How can governments support technology acceleration and help to mitigate risk? What more can policy makers be doing to move the dial and lead the industry forwards?
– Where has innovative or challenging policy / regulation been effectively deployed to create new markets? E.g. phosphorous removal, tough leakage targets. What are the lessons that can be applied to the future?
– How are utilities collaborating and co-creating innovation models?
Session Chair:
George Gerring, Partnerships Manager, ENVIRONMENT AGENCY, UK
Speakers:
David Black, Executive Director, OFWAT, UK
Kitila Mkumbo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water, GOVERNMENT OF TANZANIA, Tanzania
Newsha Ajami, Director of Urban Water Policy, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, USA
Fatih Turan, General Manager, ISTANBUL WATER AND SEWERAGE ADMINISTRATION, Turkey
10.00
Evolving From The Outside: Transformative Acquisitions
– What are the critical success factors for a transformative collaboration, investment or a merger and acquisition? At what stage of the lifecycle is this likely to happen?
– Companies advance myriad strategies for creating value with acquisitions—but only a handful are likely to do so. Why is that?
– Which deals over the past 12-24 months have specific, well-articulated value creation ideas going in? What can we learn from the outcomes?
– To what extent do long-term wins depend on the talent and experience of the team vs exceptional technological brilliance?
Session Chair:
Mike Rosenfeld, Vice Consul – Senior Advisor, Energy, Environment & Infrastructure, UK DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE, USA
Speakers:
Eytan Levy, Owner, LEVY VENTURES, Israel
David Smith, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, STANTEC, UK
Jean-Luc Ventura, CEO, SUEZ VENTURES, France
10.45
Emergent Opportunity and Progress for the Circular Economy in Latin America
Speaker:
Julián Suárez Migliozzi, Vice President Sustainable Development, Development Bank of Latin America, Uruguay
11:00
Networking Tea and Coffee Break
Hosted by
11.30
Fireside Chat: Exploring the Role of Digital in Transforming Customer Experience
As the water industry gets smarter and smarter, we hear about where technological advancement is successfully meeting customer service demands and what the future looks like as the water industry attempts to catch up with online retailers.
– How is this adoption driving efficiency and savings?
– Who is communicating excellently to stakeholders and how are they doing it?
– What do proactive communication plans look like that help conserve water to ensure there’s enough to meet growing demand?
– Are there any game changing technologies on the horizon?
Session Chair:
Tony Smith, Chief Executive, THE CONSUMER COUNCIL FOR WATER, UK
Speakers:
Nigel Watson, Chief Information Officer, NORTHUMBRIAN WATER GROUP, UK
Alex Russell-Rutherford, Customer Experience Manager, WESSEX WATER, UK
12.00
Technology Showcase
Four start-ups pitch their technology and business models to a panel of three ‘dragons’, with questions from the audience.
Presenters:
Hervé Suty, President, TERGYS
Michael Gardner, Founder & CEO, AQAIX
Philip Briscoe, COO, REZATEC
In the ‘dragon’ chairs:
Abhirabh Basu, Practice Lead for Water, LUX RESEARCH, Global
Henri Lambert, Founder, APSARA CAPITAL, UK
Eytan Levy, Founder, LEVY VENTURES, Israel
12.45
Investments with Impact: Deals of the Year 2018
Investors in water technology companies come together to discuss the hottest deals and investments of 2018 / 19 and share their insight into what the most exciting opportunities and challenges may be over the coming year.
Session Chair:
Brian Iversen, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, CIMBRIA CAPITAL, USA
Speakers:
Helge Daebel, Investment Director, EMERALD TECHNOLOGY VENTURES, Switzerland
Reinhard Hübner, Investment Manager, SKION GMBH, Germany
Jeroen Tielman, Founder & Managing Partner, QSTONE CAPITAL, Netherlands
Maarten ter Keurst, Director of Investments, PURETERRA VENTURES, China
Khalil Maalouf, Partner, XPV WATER PARTNERS, Canada
13.30
Networking Lunch Break
Day One —
February 26 Afternoon
14.30
Lightning Talks: Case Studies of Pioneering Partnerships
Two joint presentations from service providers and their clients telling real world stories of where ground-breaking technology has been deployed to great effect. Beyond theory, hear about what is excelling in practice in terms of building capacity, reducing expenditure and boosting efficiency.
Case Study 1: Solving the problem of managing engineering drawings with the cloud
Wayne Evans, CEO & Co-founder, REDEYE, Australia
Nathan Allen, Chief Executive, WATERSTART, USA
Case Study 2: Energy Saving/Biosolid Reduction/Odor Control in Wastewater Treatment: A Proven Cost Effective Approach
Derk Maat, Chairman & CEO, SCICORP INTERNATIONAL, Canada
Short Documentary Film, CITY OF KANSAS, USA
15.00
DIT Country Focus: Water Management Challenges and Opportunities
Country Focus: Kenya
Joseph Irungu, Principal Secretary, Ministry Of Water and Sanitation, Government of the Republic of Kenya
Michael M. Thuita, Chief Executive Officer, Athi Water
15.15
Case Study Plenary: Breaking New Ground in the Water, Energy and Waste Nexus
This session we will feature a collection of the best examples of technological optimisation across the water, energy and waste nexus.
– How are the barriers to accelerating adoption of a closed loop being overcome?
– Who is leading the way in cutting-edge energy recovery? How achievable is energy neutrality and who can we learn from?
– To what extent is the need to reduce expenditure on energy driving us towards decentralised models?
Session Host:
Fiona Griffith, Group Director, ISLE UTILITIES, Global
Speakers:
Christian Loderer, Project and Innovation Manager, KOMPETENZZENTRUM WASSER BERLIN, Germany
Frank Rogalla, Director of Innovation and Technology, FCC AQUALIA, Spain
Mogan Padayachee, Technology and Innovation Group Strategy Manager, RAND WATER, South Africa
Andrea Gysin, Head of Research, Development and Innovation, THAMES WATER, UK
16.00
Networking Tea and Coffee Break
16.30
DIT Country Focus: Water Management Challenges and Opportunities
Country Focus: TBC
16.45
Circular Industry: End Users and Water Reuse
– Year on year, industrial end users continue to be met with ever-louder calls for diversifying water resources and cleaning up at source. How are leading end users approaching wastewater reuse and recycling within their businesses?
– What are the biggest hurdles to water reuse and recycling? How can we get buy-in from stakeholders?
– How can these projects be financed and what could the model look like?
– What areas of innovation are delivering most value to industrial end-users? Is there room for improvement?
– What are the opportunities for cloud-based asset management efficiencies in industrial water reuse?
– What other innovative methods of producing alternative water supplies are emerging?
Session Chair:
Mark Lane, Consultant, THE UK WATER PARTNERSHIP, UK
Speakers:
José De Pierola Canales, Manager of Water Resources, SOUTHERN PERU COPPER CORP, Peru
Remy Jaffray, Water Integration Manager, DANONE, France
Alex Money, Programme Director – Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, UK
17.30
The Watering Hole: Reactive Breakaways and Beverages
Over the course of the day the Rethink production team will be keeping tabs on the hottest conversations and topics, bringing these together in real-time to close proceedings with themed, informal chats over drinks served at the table. There will be 2x 20 minute rotations.
18.30
Closing Remarks & Networking Drinks Reception
Day Two —
February 27 Morning
8.00
Breakfast Briefings (by invitation)
8.55
Welcome Remarks
9.00
Making the Digital Difference: Big Data and the Analytics of Things
– How can we amplify the power of data to optimize decision making across water networks? Beyond raw data, how must utilities approach the Analytics of Things?
– What are the key challenges that arise with implementing cloud-based operations and artificial intelligence itself or is it the realignment of resources and operations that goes with it?
– What are the cast-iron examples of where employing IoT and AoT /AI has improved efficiency, resilience, predictive maintenance and / or driven down operational costs?
– What new business models are emerging as a result?
– What do we know now that we wish we’d known 5 years ago?
Session Chair:
Steve Kaye, Executive Director, UKWIR, UK
Speakers:
Randolf Webb, Director of Strategy & Marketing, XYLEM, Europe
David Fortune, Vice President Innovation, INNOVYZE, USA
Tertius Rust, Head of Digital, JACOBS UTILITIES, UK
Rik Thijssen, Manager Business Development, VITENS, Netherlands
TBC, HACH, USA
9.45
Industry Brief: EMAGIN and Black & Veatch
Full Details TBA
10.15
Technology Showcase
Four start-ups pitch their technology and business models to a panel of three ‘dragons’, with questions from the audience.
Presenters:
Martin Ryen, CEO, PHAREM BIOTECH
Wolfgang Vogl, Founder & General Manager, VIENNA WATER MONITORING SOLUTIONS
Gualter Sampaio, Business Development Manager, ENGING
In the ‘dragon’ chairs:
Abhirabh Basu, Practice Lead for Water, LUX RESEARCH, Global
Henri Lambert, Founder, APSARA CAPITAL, UK
Eytan Levy, Founder, LEVY VENTURES, Israel
11:00
Networking Brunch
12:00
Rethinking Desalination: Is Desal 2.0 on our Doorstep?
– 2018 has seen a surge of activity in the international desalination market: is Desal 2.0 on our doorstep? What might it look like?
– How far away are we from game-changing upgrades in application (i.e. scaled-up solar powered desal) and materials (i.e. graphene membranes)?
– Projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the reverse osmosis membrane market is around 15.92% ($7.04 billion) by 2026 – will this create an economy of scale that will make desal significantly more commercially viable?
– Dispersion modelling of brine waste discharge: what do we do with high intensity brine for the future? What is the business case to deal with ever higher levels of physical discharge as plant building accelerates?
– With increasing occurrences of drought and water stress in currently abundant areas, where can we expect brand new desal markets to appear? What’s the timeline?
Speakers:
Grant Page, Founder & President, MI SYSTEMS, USA
Hagen Gleisner, Engineering Director, TRENDS INGENIERIA, Chile
12:45
DIT Country Focus: Rural Infrastructure Development
Country Focus: Khazakhstan
Afzal Amin, Director, LONDON INFRASTRUCTURE, UK
Day Two —
February 27 Afternoon
12:55
Lightning Talks: Mega Cities, Mega Challenges
We hear from representatives from 3 ‘mega cities’ who will explain how they are going about meeting some of the biggest water challenges on the planet.
Host:
Newsha Ajami, Director of Urban Water Policy, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, UK
City 1: Lagos – How is Africa’s largest, most dynamic city meeting its water challenges?
Muminu Adekunle Badmus, CEO, LAGOS WATER CORPORATION, Nigeria
13.25
Open Source Water Hubs: How Could We Share Technology and Data Around the World?
– To what extent do water hubs deliver what they say they will? How successful are they at commercialising and scaling up tech in real terms?
– Water hubs are developed to cultivate innovation – what would such a network look like on global scale? How would it work?
– Water hubs thrive in a tightly-knit ecosystem belonging to a particular geography: is a ‘global water tech hub’ an oxymoron?
– What examples of technological cross-pollination have occurred between municipal hubs?
– If yes: who takes responsibility? What existing platforms could be adopted or acquired to form the bedrock of such an initiative?
Session Chair:
Hein Molenkamp, Director, WATER ALLIANCE, Netherlands
Speakers:
Caroline Wadsworth, Water Innovation Hub Manager, SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY, UK
Yossi Yaacoby, Head of Staff, MEKOROT, Israel
Kieran Brocklebank, Head of Innovation, UNITED UTILITIES, UK
Nathan Allen, Chief Executive, WATERSTART, USA
14.10
Close of Summit
Post-event: Thursday, February 28
World Water-Tech Innovation Tour
We are delighted to confirm a full-day tour of Anglian Water’s pioneering ‘Shop Window’ in Newmarket for up to 20 delegates.
Join us to explore Anglian Water’s ground-breaking ‘Shop Window’ innovation hub, which recently won an IWA Innovation Gold Award. You’ll hear from teams who are at the frontier of leakage and carbon reduction, amongst many other exciting developments. You will also meet meet face-to-face with some of the prominent technology companies that have been part of this journey with Anglian Water. Confirmed to date are Innovyze, 8Power and ATI.
Find out more
Register
