The Global Water Summit has always been about connections: water meets money, public meets private, business meets opportunity.

This year, the summit will take it one step further, to explore how the connections at the edges of the sector can give us fresh perspective on the roadblocks to growth. In our post-physical world, water management no longer lives in isolation. The digital revolution means that utility business models are evolving. Data is empowering the customer and the developing world, disrupting the traditional dynamics of the water industry. Meanwhile, the age of the ‘smart’ and ‘liveable’ city has made water an intimate bedfellow with other environmental services such as waste and energy.

New questions are being asked of the world of water:

• Uber, Airbnb and Amazon have revolutionised transportation, accommodation and commerce, industries all based on fixed assets. Who will bring this to the water sector?
• With new actors showing interest in the water sector, its borders are losing definition. Is sludge management a water business, an energy business or a waste business?
• Politicians across the globe are seeking to restrict the movement of goods and people. How can we ensure that money and innovation continue to flow to where they are needed most?

This year in Madrid, participants will explore how intelligent synergies blending finance and technology can deliver solutions for both industries and utilities, from Latin America to China. By unpacking these issues now together, we can ensure that water has its place in the vanguard of the fourth industrial revolution.

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