From pilots and promise to performance and pace

A wildcard opener anchored on the Canadian Space Agency's Aqua Luna challenge. Hear how extreme constraints, including ten years of unattended operation, water production in space, zero margin for error, can teach the wider sector about pace, performance and resilience.

The Forum's traditional opening provocation to set the tone for the day. Does the language and culture of "innovation" itself work against deployment in risk-averse environments?

The most underestimated barrier to scaling water innovation. A structured working session with scale-up founders, utility procurement leaders and European policymakers — including MEPs engaged in the current procurement directive revision — producing five concrete recommendations as a tangible Forum legacy output.

The shifting investment landscape, the missing middle, the rise of strategics, and the emerging case for blended infrastructure-and-venture models. Featuring established water investors alongside large infrastructure funds entering the space.

Public scrutiny is accelerating a wave of real-time monitoring, AI-driven analytics and asset transparency on sewer infrastructure and networks. Hear from utilities and technology partners, that are shaping the conversation with a live case study of innovation moving at pace under public spotlight.

As well as adopting solutions to make their manufacturing and operations more efficient, corporations are actively engaging in partnerships with start-ups to meet water-positive ambitions. Beyond water replenishment projects, what’s next? How are innovations in business models in water quality and wastewater helping to link corporations to water utilities?

The integrated story of computing, semiconductors, power and water. From data centres being connected to reused wastewater, where is the opportunity for innovations in partnerships, technologies and finance?

For innovations to scale, it requires more than just the technology. A closing, inspirational talk addressing why technology readiness level alone isn’t the only factor that determines deployment success with water and climate solutions, and the importance of the human and social side of innovation.