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Culture of innovation should go beyond technical efficiency
Water UK Chief Executive calls for innovative ways of setting priorities and engaging public perception in water resources management.
Pamela Taylor, speaking at Water UK's Innovation Forum in London on 5 September, said: "We almost always associate innovation with technical or physical efficiency. In future we’ll need a wider definition. For one thing we’ll need to learn how to set priorities with more transparent cost and benefit analysis."
Sir John Egan, Chairman of Severn Trent plc, chaired the event which gathered the industry, supply chain and key stakeholders to consider water resources management and other challenges faced over the coming 25 years.
The day included facilitated debate to establish new approaches, brainstorm solutions and also looked at lessons learnt from other sectors and countries.
In brief some of the speakers and topics discussed were:
Ian Pearson MP, Minister of State for Science and Innovation discussed –
- Developing a national framework to fully exploit the emerging opportunities in water efficiency innovation
Trevor Bishop, Head of Water Resource Management, Environment Agency, raised key points concerning –
- Adopting a long term view of innovation in water resources
- Areas where water resource planning and supply planning overlap
Earl Selbourne, Chairman of the House of Lords Select Committee considered political drivers for innovation, including –
- The importance of long term planning
- Heavy investment by water companies since the privatisation
- How agricultural and industrial water consumers affect policy
Over 80 people from across the industry attended the Water UK Innovation Forum and delegates agreed that key areas for innovation in the water industry included sustainability, climate change and water resource management.
