Water's contribution to Australia's innovation boom

Australia’s innovation boom will only be limited by our imagination — a notion that is true for the water sector as much as any other part of the economy.

SMEs, utilities, consultants, engineers, entrepreneurs and start-ups from both within and outside the water sector have an enormous opportunity to ride the innovation wave and play a key role in securing the future of Australia’s most precious resource.

The 2016 Water Innovation Forum and Expo will bring together innovators and financiers from around the country to explore new thinking and new possibilities, and share the latest developments in cutting-edge water technology.

Whether you are a start-up looking to bring new water or wastewater products to market or Australia’s biggest utility wanting to showcase your latest technology to a targeted audience, the 2016 Water Innovation Forum and Expo is a good platform to share the spirit of innovation across industries and showcase best practice solutions that can be adopted in other sectors.

The program has been designed to align with the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Centres Initiative — a program that aims to drive innovation, productivity and competitiveness by focusing on areas of strategic priority.

This year’s forum and expo welcomes speakers from these growth areas including oil and gas, health, food and agribusiness, manufacturing and mining industries, as well as from Australia’s biggest utilities to explore water’s contribution to innovation in these areas.

Features include:

• One dynamic event — a new theatrette surrounded by the innovators’ display hubs.
• 30 pitch sessions from organisations across the country, shared openly with exhibitors for maximum involvement.
• Five focused streams aligned with the Industry Growth Centres Initiative including manufacturing, food and agribusiness, health, mining equipment, technology and services, and oil, gas and energy resources.

Speaker sessions include:

• Urban water management and innovative urban design — Professor Tony Wong, CRC for Water Sensitive Cities; Paul Mulley, Sydney Water; Professor Stuart White, UTS; Daniel Lambert, Arup; Professor Zhiguo Yuan, The University of Queensland
• Harvesting energy from water and wastewater — Timothy Nelson, AGL Energy and Ian Donal, Yarra Valley Water
• Measuring and adapting to climate variability — Dr Suzanne Hollins, ANSTO and Ian Prosser, Bureau of Meteorology
• Transferring innovations to the world market — Grantly Butterfield, Australian Water Partnerships and Dr Paul Smith, Australian Water Association
• Digital water management improving utilities efficiency — presented by WSAA

Details at a glance

What: Water Innovation Forum and Expo

When: 10–11 March 2016

Where: Royal Randwick, Sydney

Web: www.awa.asn.au/InnovationForum16