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Thematic and Business Forums

19 – 21 June 2024

9:00am – 5:30pm

About

Covering emerging trends, opportunities, and challenges of today, the Forums aim to discover trends, solutions and high-impact collaboration projects across various themes and markets in the water sector.

Click here for full programme, sessions and speakers' details.

Programme

(as of 30 May 2024)

Thematic Forum

Business Forum

*: Closed-door

DATE	AM		PM
18 June
19 June		Sustainable Coastal and Urban Resilience in Southeast Asia Workshop* (Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands)		The Netherlands and Southeast Asia Water Tech Innovation Forum (Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands)
			Digital Transformation in the Water Sector: Navigating the Waves of Technology (Asian Development Bank)	Digital Climate Resilience – Deep Tech for Climate Adaptation
				Green Financing for Utilities – Transitioning to a Sustainable Future (KPMG)
				Cross Sector Collaboration on the Water Circular Economy: Lessons from North America (Water Environment Federation)
			Advancing Resource Saving Solutions to Flanders & Blue Deal – Tackling Water Scarcity & Resource Efficiency (Flanders Trade and Investment Office)	Integrated Solutions for Tackling Coastal & Urban Flooding: The Experience of Flanders, Belgium (Flanders Trade and Investment Office)
			UK Innovation Forum (British High Commission)	Vietnam Business Forum (Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Assn)
20 June	Recycled Water – Harnessing the "E" in Circular Economies (GHD)	Sustainable Recycled Water Ecosystem – Water Credit (AWS)	Digital Tools to Build Resilience (Arup)	Innovative Engineering for Sustainable Development (Intl Assn for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research)
	Beyond Crisis: Building Resilience in a Changing Climate Landscape (Australian Water Assn)	Benchmarking for Continuous Improvement: Advantage and Pitfalls of Comparing Performance and Management Practices Across Water and Sanitation Utilities (World Bank)
	IDRA Business and Innovation Forum at SIWW, also featuring XPRIZE Water Scarcity, GPID, and Alliance for Water Stewardship Igniting Solutions for a Sustainable Water Future; Featuring Leaders in the Global Desalination and Water Reuse Sector (Intl Desalination and Reuse Assn)		Singapore Coastal Protection Business Forum (Singapore Water Assn)	Singapore Business Forum (Singapore Water Assn)
		Netherlands Business Forum (RVO-Netherlands Enterprise Agency)
		India Business Forum (Indian High Commission, CII)

21 June			Coastal Resilience Seminar (Centre for Climate Adaptation)

Thematic Forums

Digital Transformation in the Water Sector: Navigating the Waves of Technology

19 June 2024

2:00pm – 3:30pm

Co-organised by: Asian Development Bank

More about the forum

In the ever-evolving landscape of water management, the integration of digital technologies has become a crucial driver for efficiency, sustainability, and resilience. Integration of information and communication technology (ICT), digital technologies, and remote sensing technologies has become increasingly important for water resilience and is now more affordable and accessible. The Asian development Bank through its ‘Strategy 2030 Water Sector Directional Guide’ has identified ‘digital revolution’ as one of the five drivers of change and is focused on mainstreaming digitalization for water resilience and efficiency.

"Digital Transformation in the Water Sector: Navigating the Waves of Technology" is a dynamic session that dives into the impact, challenges, and opportunities presented by the ongoing digital revolution in water-related industries. It aims to bring forward successful case studies, barriers and challenges, and simultaneously the various possibilities which are shaping around the world.

The session kicks off with a keynote address, offering a panoramic view of the current state of digitalization in the water sector. A diverse panel of experts then engages in a thought-provoking discussion on global trends, sharing insightful perspectives on the transformative power of technology within the industry, while discussing various barriers and challenges to benefit fully from the technologies.

The presentations from the technology providers and users will follow the cutting-edge applications of technology in the water sector, including the deployment of IoT devices and sensors for real-time monitoring, smart metering systems coupled with data analytics for optimized distribution, and the utilization of remote sensing technologies to manage water resources more effectively.

The forum will look ahead to the future as it will explore emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, and edge computing, showcasing their potential to revolutionize water management. The session also emphasizes the importance of cross-industry collaboration and partnerships in fostering innovation and addressing common challenges.

Profile of Attendees: Utility representatives, start-ups/ entrepreneurs

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Cross Sector Collaboration on the Water Circular Economy: Lessons from North America

19 June 2024

3:30pm – 5:00pm

Co-organised by: Water Environment Federation

More about the forum

A circular water economy recycles and recovers resources within the water use and treatment cycle to maximise value for people, nature, and businesses. As the global water sector transitions to support the circular economy, sharing lessons learned, both positive and negative, is imperative. This panel of leaders will feature both aspirational plans and case studies of successes from across North America.

The panellists will be the WEF/NACWA/WRF Singapore Scholars and the WEF President. The forum will be moderated by Melanie Tan, a former PUB employee and current member of the WEF Circular Water Economy Summit steering committee.

Profile of attendees: Utility leaders who are considering or adopting circular water economy concepts

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Digital Climate Resilience – Deep Tech for Climate Adaptation

19 June 2024

3:30pm – 5:00pm

More about the forum

Digital climate resilience refers to the use of digital technologies to improve the climate resilience of critical infrastructure. Digital transformation has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach climate change mitigation. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the application of digital technologies can help us make more informed decisions, optimize resource use and reduce waste. The panel discussion will evolve around following questions:

How can digital technology help climate change?
Can digital technologies enhance climate resilience of critical infrastructure?
What is an example of climate resilience strategy?

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Green Financing for Utilities – Transitioning to a Sustainable Future

19 June 2024

4:30pm – 6:00pm

Co-organised by: KPMG Singapore and International Finance Corporation

More about the forum

The convergence of technology, ESG, and innovative financing has revolutionised utilities, prompting a reimagining of business operations. While striving to meet SDG targets, water and waste utilities grapple with the trilemma of availability, affordability, and sustainability.

How can utilities leverage technology and innovative financing while addressing these challenges? What best practices and success stories showcase transformative shifts in business models? With customer experience and smart metering advancements, there's potential for enhanced engagement and efficiency.

To drive this transformation, we must prioritise upskilling and fostering an innovative culture within utility organisations. Our session will explore these challenges and opportunities through a financing lens, aiming to pave the way for a more resilient utility sector.

Profile of Attendees: Finance and development teams at utilities and developers, financial institutions, regulators, equipment / technology providers.

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Recycled Water - Harnessing the "E" in Circular Economies

20 June 2024

9:00am – 10:30am

Co-organised by: GHD

More about the forum

Using examples from USA, Australia, and Singapore, this forum explores the key economic drivers, constraints and enablers in achieving successful adoption of circular technologies and projects to achieve increased social, environmental and economic benefits for communities through advanced water recycling schemes, including potable reuse.

The facilitator will introduce framing for Economics and “E” in Circular Economy thinking. Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) will present work based on inclusion of all alternatives in strategic water planning frameworks.

Each panellist will present recent key project(s) implementing recycling, in terms of the social, political, economic and environmental (climate) situation faced and the solutions applied to secure approval for projects to proceed to implementation.

Profile of Attendees: Water authorities, private water providers, regulators, 3^rd party credit

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Benchmarking for Continuous Improvement: Advantage and Pitfalls of Comparing Performance and Management Practices Across Water and Sanitation Utilities

20 June 2024

11:00am – 12:30pm

Co-organised by: The World Bank

More about the forum

The event will highlight and discuss both the pros and the cons of benchmarking as a management tool for Water and Sanitation Utilities, inviting participants to examine which approaches might work best in shaping continuous improvements at low cost in their own organizations.

The ultimate goal of benchmarking is continuous improvement, something all Utilities aim for but often do not have the management tools to achieve.

Comparing their business to others can help generate ideas on precisely which management approaches are critical to shape changes that can be adopted to get ahead. Comparisons can only be a powerful tool to understand best or better practices if "like" is compared with "like". For Water and Sanitation Utilities, such "like with like" comparisons are facilitated by NewIBNET – a World Bank sponsored web-based platform and partnership that not only invites utilities to upload their own data to allow for meaningful comparisons but that also offers intuitive dashboards and meaningful groupings for comparisons. So as to not lead to distractions, the NewIBNET platform invites its users to focus on 15 Key Performance Indicators and management practices in 7 areas of management only. Which of those practices will lead to which result? The panel will discuss just that.

Profile of Attendees:
High-level representatives from Water and Sanitation Utilities, Utility Associations, and Regulators   

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Sustainable Recycled Water Ecosystem – Water Credit

20 June 2024

11:00am – 12:30pm

Co-organised by: AWS

More about the forum

Success and scale bring broad responsibility. We are motivated to enable recycled water usage for non-potable use, especially in industrial and agricultural environments. It is not always the case, where recycled water is readily available and usually short of supply. This workshop is a platform to discuss and venture into the new concept of enabling and expending the use of recycled water in APAC and around the world. The experts in the workshop will be discussing the idea of enabling water credits which will catalyze the growth of recycled water supply chain. This idea will give wastewater a second life, water consumers who are interested in recycled water can invest in recycled water infrastructure expansion, creating greater availability of recycled water resources for the system as a whole, without having to build additional pipelines to bring the recycled water to their own facilities and those recycled water used will be converted into water credits.

Profile of Attendees: Water authorities, Private water providers, regulators, 3^rd party credit

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Digital Tools to Build Resilience

20 June 2024

2:00pm – 3:30pm

Co-organised by: ARUP

More about the forum

Experts from across Arup’s water business explore how water resilience can be enhanced through areas from full city water resilience assessments to specific interventions including nature-based solution implementation and wastewater-based epidemiology.

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Innovative Engineering for Sustainable Development

20 June 2024

4.30pm – 6:00pm

Co-organised by: International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR)

Innovative Engineering for Sustainable Development.png

More about the forum

Water engineering and innovation underpins and impacts almost every aspect of our lives. It gives rise to options and solutions for improved policy settings, economic growth, as well as physical, social, and environmental well-being as we strive for global water security. As countries accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the most critical and the costliest solutions all involve water infrastructure, technologies, and innovations. This session tackles the most challenging problems that keep national water leaders awake at night, and what transformative forces, innovations and practical options from practice and research comprise the solutions for a sustainable future. This includes coastal resilience, solutions under climate uncertainty, digital transformation, water for the energy transition, food security and nature.

This session is a milestone event on the road to the 41st IAHR World Congress, co-hosted with PUB and to be held in Singapore in June 2025.

Profile of attendees: All water professionals

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Business Forums

Sustainable Coastal and Urban Resilience in Southeast Asia Workshop

(By-invitation only)

19 June 2024

11:00am – 3:00pm

Co-organised by: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.png

Advancing Resource Saving Solutions in Water Management for Asia – Flanders/Belgium

19 June 2024

1:30pm – 3:30pm

Co-organised by: Flanders Trade and Investment Office

UK Innovation Forum

19 June 2024

1:30pm – 3:30pm

Co-organised by: British High Commission

Integrated Solutions for Tackling Coastal and Urban Flooding : The Experience of Flanders, Belgium

19 June 2024

3:30pm – 5:30pm

Co-organised by: Flanders Trade and Investment Office

Vietnam Business Forum

19 June 2024

3:30pm – 5:30pm

Co-organised by: Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association

The Netherlands and Southeast Asia Water Tech Innovation Forum

19 June 2024

4:00pm – 6:15pm

Co-organised by: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

More about the forum

The forum explores the latest developments and trends in the water sector and provides the opportunity for experts of utility agencies, government bodies, water tech companies, research institutes, consultancies and other relevant groups from Southeast Asia and the Netherlands to connect and forge new collaborations on topics such as water resource management, waste water and industrial water treatment, drinking water treatment, desalination, resource recovery, water distribution network and digitalisation. Attendees will be divided in small groups for personal exchanges with Dutch solution providers based on their profile and indicated interest(s) to facilitate optimal matchmaking.

Click here for registration.

Click here for full programme, sessions and speakers' details.

Beyond Crisis: Building Resilience in a Changing Climate Landscape

20 June 2024

9:00am – 10:30am

Co-organised by: Australian Water Association

More about the forum

This session brings together leaders from across the Australian water sector to provide insight into recent responses to extreme weather events, and how the sector is building resilience and future proofing in a landscape of climate uncertainty. To provide diverse perspectives and experiences, the panel features representatives from Australian water utilities, service delivery partners, and the Australian Water Association, Australia's largest water network who will facilitate the session.

Profile of Attendees: Utility and service providers, city planners

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IDRA Business and Innovation Forum at SIWW, also featuring XPRIZE Water Scarcity, GPID, and Alliance for Water Stewardship Igniting Solutions for a Sustainable Water Future; Featuring Leaders in the Global Desalination and Water Reuse Sector

20 June 2024

9:00am – 12:30 pm

Co-organised by: International Desalination and Reuse Association (IDRA)

More about the forum

Introducing the IDRA Business and Innovation Forum at SIWW, also featuring XPRIZE Water Scarcity, GPID, and Alliance for Water Stewardship Igniting Solutions for a Sustainable Water Future; Featuring Leaders in the Global Desalination and Water Reuse Sector

The IDRA Business and Innovation Forum at SIWW, also featuring XPRIZE Water Scarcity, GPID, and Alliance for Water Stewardship Igniting Solutions for a Sustainable Water Future; Featuring Leaders in the Global Desalination and Water Reuse Sector is a dynamic platform designed to spark collaboration through discussions about cutting-edge solutions in water sustainability. As the global water landscape evolves rapidly, with challenges such as scarcity, pollution, and climate change intensifying, the need for innovative approaches has never been more critical.

Participants gain valuable insights into the latest advancements in water technology, policy, and management through engaging panel discussions and interactive sessions with the audience, keynote presentations, and networking opportunities.

Key themes:

Water Technology and Innovation: Discover the latest advancements in desalination, water reuse, purification technologies, and smart water management systems that revolutionize how we address water challenges.

Policy and Governance: Explore policy frameworks, regulatory approaches, and governance models that promote sustainable water resource management, foster collaboration, and drive positive societal impact.

Join us at the IDRA Business and Innovation Forum at SIWW, also featuring XPRIZE Water Scarcity, GPID, and Alliance for Water Stewardship Igniting Solutions for a Sustainable Water Future; Featuring Leaders in the Global Desalination and Water Reuse Sector as we harness the power of innovation to address one of the most pressing challenges of our time: ensuring access to clean, safe, and sustainable water for all. Together, we can build a future where everyone can thrive in a water-secure world.

Click here for full programme, sessions and speakers' details.