Bilbao and Bizkaia will be the permanent venue for the IWA congresses on the digitization of water
The Euskalduna Palace has brought together almost 400 experts and companies from
the whole world specialized in digitalization of the water sector
BILBAO, December 2. (EUROPEAN PRESS) –
Bilbao and Bizkaia will be the permanent venue for the congresses and summits on water digitization organized by the International Water Association (IWA), as confirmed by the executive director of the IWA, Kalanithy Vairamoorthy, at the closing ceremony of the first edition of the IWA congress. Digital Water Summit held this week at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao.
The event has had the collaboration of the Bilbao Bizkaia Water Consortium and the Spanish Association of Water Supply and Sanitation (AEAS), in its capacity as representative of the IWA in Spain.
In this way, the Biscayan capital will host all the meetings organized in the future on the digitization of the water sector and will be the reference venue for the next editions of the IWA Digital Water Summit. The next edition of the summit will take place from November 14 to 16, 2023. Afterwards, it will rotate through two continents, yet to be determined, and will return to the Biscayan capital in 2026.
The Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao has hosted this week the first international congress IWA Digital Water Summit, which was born precisely with the spirit of being a benchmark for the future of digitalization of water, since it is addressed to all interested parties involved in the water sector. water, with a specific focus on companies and industry, to promote communication and networking.
EXPANSION OF PARTICIPANTS
Throughout the three days of the congress, 400 delegates have gathered in Bilbao, the maximum number set by the organization, so the next edition will be expanded to 600 participants.
At the close of the forum, the manager of the Bilbao Bizkaia Water Consortium, Pedro Barreiro, indicated that “the conferences have been a success of participation, an event in which public-private collaboration has been key, with a lot of companies , leaders in their sector, who have provided knowledge, technology and service”.
For this reason, from the consortium entity it is understood that “the success of this first edition has led the IWA to Bilbao as its preferred venue, which will undoubtedly have a driving effect for the city and the territory, and positions us as leaders in a area as important as the digitization of the water sector”.
Within the framework of the recent PERTE for digitalization of the water cycle launched by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, this first edition of the forum has included the main experts and world companies in digitalization of the water sector, enabling operators of water services learn first-hand about the latest technologies and their providers.
WATER MANAGEMENT
In addition, it has put different agents in contact with each other who wish to associate to apply for the funds that will be granted to those who present projects that ensure the control and correct management of the use of water in the State.
‘Thought leadership’ is the value that has promoted the agenda with the most prominent figures inside and outside the water sector, as it is a transversal service to technology, communication networks, artificial intelligence and sensors.
The panel of experts has addressed, among others, monitoring with satellite data, the value of digital water, the regenerative power of water, innovative organizations in changing environments or digitization in low- and middle-income countries.
The objective of the IWA Digital Water Summit was to answer some of the questions that companies are asking themselves at the present time, such as what does the concept of digital water mean, what is the difference between digital water and digitization or how can the industry be more digitally aware.
For their part, the technical sessions have analyzed, among others, topics such as data monitoring, digital potential/digital platforms; beginnings, journey and future towards digitization, corporate innovation-innovative organizations in changing environments or cyber security.