The Water Innovation Network aims to drive innovation within the water industry supply chain and to encourage end-users of water to adopt innovative solutions that reduce water demand and effluent.
The Water Innovation Network also acts as water sector cluster; a national network of businesses and organisations which operate in the water industry, providing a networking and collaboration platform to enable innovation and growth. The network is industry-led and operates on a not-for-profit basis with any profits put back in to the development of the network.
The demand for innovative water solutions is largely driven by a relatively small number of water utility companies but is underpinned by a large and diverse supply chain made up of a large number of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). These SMEs often find it hard to engage with the large utility companies and so it is one of the main roles of the Water Innovation Network to create a gateway and a platform for these businesses to supply to the major utilities.
Additionally, the Water Innovation Network engages with large industrial water-users who are increasingly looking for solutions to reduce water use and/or pollution. Five of the most water-intensive industries are being targeted: agriculture/fisheries; basic metals; chemicals; service industries; and food and drink.
Innovation within the water sector typically occurs in the supply chain and not within the water utilities and this is something which has been diminishing over the last 10 years due to constraints on funding and a consolidation of the water supply chain. To overcome this the Water Innovation Network, working with the water utility companies, fosters a culture of open innovation and leverages funding from public- and private-sector sources to put towards the research and development of innovative water solutions.
The key objectives of the Water Innovation Network are to:
• Stimulate innovation in the water industry supply chain to meet industry demand
• Create a collaborative network of water sector companies, organisations & universities
• Increase deal flow within the water sector
• Leverage additional national or European collaborative R&D funding
• Develop new overseas markets for the water industry supply chain
• Increase Government support of innovation in the sector and investment in R&D
About UK CEED
The Water Innovation Network is run by The UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (UK CEED) with funding from the East of England Development Agency as part of their commitment to create a regional low carbon cluster. The network is supported by a number of private-sector partners including Anglian Water.
UK CEED is an independent, not-for-profit foundation. It was established in 1984 by a group of far-sighted leaders from the business, government and scientific communities. Responding to the recommendations of the UN World Conservation Strategy, the Centre was originally set up to support, co-ordinate and monitor implementation of the Conservation and Development Programme for the UK.
Its particular remit was to provide an evidence base for demonstrating how environmental protection and economic development priorities could be reconciled and also for promoting the central role of the business sector in environmental improvement. It thus became an early advocate of what was to become known as sustainable development.
