Greentech Lead Europe: As the UN celebrates 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation, the recently held ITU workshop held in Luxor, Egypt, has agreed a Call to Action to enable smart water management.
Smart water management could be achieved by integrating information and communication technology (ICT) in water networks. The communications network will help monitor, analyze, control and increase efficiency and reliability in water supply and reduce water consumption and waste, according to the forum.
UN estimates that 85 percent of the world’s population lives in the driest half of the planet; 783 million people do not have access to clean water; almost 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation; and 6-8 million people die annually from the consequences of water-related disasters and diseases.
Hamadoun I. Touré, secretary-general, ITU, said, “The importance of sufficient supplies of good quality water is recognized in the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), one of which is to halve the number of people without safe access to water by 2015. One of the many ways in which ICT will be central to the post-2015 development agenda is through supporting greater agility and efficiency in water management frameworks.”
Opening the workshop, Malcolm Johnson, director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU, called on stakeholders represented at the event to agree on actions that will help countries in the Nile River Basin, and others around the world facing similar challenges, to implement best practices and technologies for smart water management.
The Call to Action encourages ITU to collaborate with policy makers, water authorities, and relevant international and regional organizations, to lead with vision in developing and fostering the adoption of international standards, best practices, and policies for smart water management that improve both water and energy footprints, taking into account life cycle assessments.
ITU also urged participating members to evaluate countries’ water footprint, standard performance indicators, and industry best practices for smart water management and help countries to better utilize their water resources.
Standardizing ICT applications and services for smart water management ensures interoperability and brings economies of scale. Other suggestions include geographic 3D modeling of geospatial data for use in geographical information systems and on the Internet; an Open Data platform to enable interoperability of smart water solutions; and a common communication protocol.
Stakeholders should also help bridge the gap between experts from the ICT, water, and energy sectors and policy makers, to encourage the integration of ICT into water and energy policies in order to improve knowledge on the state of water availability and consumption, increase environmental resilience, tackle climate change impacts, and enhance energy efficiency and water demand management. Promote the use of open data platforms in water management to empower innovation.
The Call to Action also aims to shape the global agenda by campaigning for the integration of ICT policies in the ongoing dialogue on smart water management in organizations such as UN Water, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).