What if the key to solving water challenges lies in “Open Water”?
Qatium is pleased to present “Open Water: why we need open data, open software, & open collaboration in the water sector.”
In this paper, you’ll hear from water-sector experts Gigi Karmous-Edwards, Luke Butler, Nigel Watson, and Lewis Richards, who share invaluable insights about how the water sector can, and is, using open data, open software, and open collaboration to overcome the increasingly difficult water challenges of our time.
Here’s what to expect from each section:
— Water, a non-competitive industry: why the water sector can only benefit from collaboration & collective action (Gigi)
— How open source software standards can revolutionize the water industry (Luke)
— “Stream”: an open data project in the UK’s water sector (Nigel)
— Connecting tech for the greater good: overcoming fears about open data in the water sector (Lewis)
Read the whitepaper here:
What do we mean by “Open Water”?
Water, an essential, finite resource, weaves its way through a maze of cycles, structures, and boundaries, natural and human-made, intricately linking the health of our planet with the prosperity of our communities.
As a potential antidote to the water sector’s many challenges, including the climate emergency, this paper proposes the water sector embrace “Open Water,” a concept, approach, and way of working that draws from an open philosophy.
Open Water encompasses central principles — transparency, collaboration, and free sharing of information (as opposed to competitive guarding) — with an underlying goal to accelerate innovation, improve accessibility, and create value through collective effort. We believe the water sector is particularly well positioned to embrace and benefit from Open Water.
In this paper, we ground the idea of Open Water in useful, practical, and operable enablers, like open source software, open data, and open collaboration, with clear examples of how Open Water already has and can continue to provide benefits to the water sector.
We hope this paper will inspire further exploration and adoption of the Open Water concept and practices, fostering a future where water management is more innovative, collaborative, inclusive, and sustainable for all.
