Water

The challenge ahead

1. Planning for external shock and weather conditions – Worsening drought 
   conditions, wildfires and flooding across Europe have made clear the scale of 
   the climate crisis we face and the need for future resilience against extreme 
   weather events. We must now look to embedding predictive analytics in current 
   forecasting and simulation models such as digital twins - to enable the sector to 
   plan against, and advance understanding of, such shock scenarios.
2. Infrastructure upgrades – Deteriorating infrastructure poses a threat to the 
   security of our energy and water supply and passes on considerable costs to 
   consumers. To target necessary upgrades, operators must transition to whole 
   systems models and promote greater innovation in how we maintain
   existing assets. 
3. Shifting patterns of usage – Shocks to supply have ushered in a new era of 
   unpredictability in planning and demand. We re-affirm the need to rollout 
   integrated solutions that can accurately accommodate these shifting trends at 
   both a macro and micro level to account for more complex variables that arise 
   from shifting patterns of consumption
4. Transition to a clean, green, renewable energy-powered future – The rollout 
   of new technologies such as hydrogen and ground and air source heat pumps 
   will necessitate new data models and simulation tools to ensure the grid can 
   accommodate fluctuating patterns of demand. This will inevitably grow as we 
   accelerate to the creation of low carbon industrial clusters that require enhanced 
   interoperability of data.