A good way to ensure clean water can be through the use of digital technology by the supplier. WIN Water is a triple helix platform for companies and innovations in the water area, and in November a Digital Water event was held to increase the pace of change in the area. The relevance of the subject matter was confirmed by the very large number of participants. Collaborations have now deepened to find ways to provide more secure systems for managing society's water flows.
Future by Lund's collaboration partner WIN is an open marketplace for innovations and business networks, and WIN Water are specialists in the water sector. To increase the pace of change in the water area, WIN Water arrange meetings with different themes - and in November the gathering affected the subject of digital water, for the first time.
– The need to have sensors in water systems is only getting greater and greater, due to increased urbanization and climate impact, amongst other things, says Ola Hansson, manager at WIN Water. So far, we have had large amounts of analog data concerning water consumption, flows, and quality, which takes time to analyze. For example, water quality is sampled, and it then takes 3-5 days to get a response from the laboratory. We see a great need for digitization of the water area to be able to identify patterns faster that provide more knowledge about quality, operations, and safety for better dimensioned systems and better maintenance. The sensors can also be used in systems for water treatment plants to measure flows, temperature, and quality, and even manage dosing in the water treatment process.
During the meeting the project owners, who ensure delivery towards a specific need, presented their challenges. Entrepreneurs and innovations that can match the challenges and offer solutions were pitched, and six innovation companies from Sweden, the UK, and Spain presented their opportunities. After that, the participants worked together in workshops around three in-depth themes.
*Online and smart bioburden sensor for purified water Workshop owner: Baxter
*How can IoT help us turn 5000 km pipes from being a black box? Workshop owner: VA SYD
*Digitalization and business in challenged regions Workshop owner: sWASH & Grow/WIN Water
The event was digital, and 115 participants were present. The interest was widespread in geographical terms with participants from 20 countries. After the meeting, event manager Emmelie Nietsche made an evaluation.
– It was very positive, she says. In the evaluation, 50% answered that they will follow up 1-3 contacts, 35% that they follow up between 4-6 contacts. We view this as a very good result.
The host of the event was Sony.
The participants in the various working groups formed focus groups that will continue working on their themes with WIN Water as a facilitator and innovation platform.
WIN Water will develop its international networks in 2021, and the next meeting is on 11 February.
Read more at www.winway.se
Bild: WIN Water
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