EWTW2018: Six water tech hubs agree on global cooperation to accelerate market introduction of innovative technologies
Six water tech hubs from China, South Korea, USA, the Netherlands, Israel and Singapore signed the 'Water Tech Hub Alliance' declaration in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands on 26 September.
Representatives of these hubs had gathered, on the invitation of Hein Molenkamp, managing director of Water Alliance, at the first European Water Tech Week organised by the Dutch water hub in Leeuwarden.
Allk six hubs agreed to commit to the global acceleration of innovative water treatment technologies as an open platform. The declaration specified six themes on which the hubs will intensify their cooperation.
Special envoy for start-ups Dutch prince Constantijn pledged for more global connection between water tech hubs.
Strong global hubs
‘You can only be a strong hub if you are well connected to the rest of the world’, said Dutch prince Constantijn in a chat session with director Cees Buisman of research institute Wetsus.
Prince Constantijn is the Dutch envoy for start-ups and as such he welcomed the global initiative to strengthen the cooperation of the water tech hubs and become ‘more connected in an open platform’.
Constantijn specially mentioned the importance of hubs for small businesses with innovative technologies. Small SME’s need to scale up if they want to make a real market impact with their new and advanced technologies. Hubs can help these SME's with that, the prince explained.
President Dean Amhaus signing the declaration on behalf of the Water Council Milwaukee.
On a national scale he noticed the difficulties of Intellectual Properties (IP) when SME’s seek cooperation to scale up and gain critical mass. He also identified the lack of access to finance as a typical bottle neck for SME’s.
On the global level it all comes down to finding talent, Constantijn said. ‘How do you find experts on issues as artificial intelligence and data analyses?'. That will be the main challenge for SME’s, he believed.
Closer cooperation
In their declaration, the six water tech hubs mention six focus areas to start strengthening their cooperation. They recognise the need to identify local and global water challenges and potential technical solutions. To be able to scout new technologies and judge their potential, there is a need to develop common criteria.
Furthermore the representatives agreed in Leeuwarden on sharing their educational programmes to support top talents.
The six representatives who signed the declaration were (f.l.t.r on top photo) Shaoxian Zhang of the Jiangsu cluster (China), Dean Amhaus of the Water Council, Milwaukee (USA), Hein Molenkamp of the WaterCampus (the Netherlands), Jinyoung Jung of the Korea Water Cluster (South Korea), Yossi Jaacoby of Mekorot-Watech (Israel) and Han Loong Fong of PUB (Singapore).
Read also on this website
● EWTW2018: Wafilin announces installation of Ducam membranes at Avebe plant, the Netherlands, 27 September 2018
● EWTW2018: Dyetec and Water Alliance sign MoU on advanced water technology, 25 September 2018
● EWTW2018: Six prominent water technology hubs gather at WaterCampus Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, 25 September 2018
● Expertise: Water technology
More information
European Water Tech Week 2018
www.watercampus.nl/ewtw2018
Water Campus Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden, the Netherlands
+31 58 284 90 44
www.watercampus.nl
Interview with Dutch prince Constantijn at the European Water Tech Week on bottle-necks for SME’s to scale up to global markets.