The Virtual Networks Group is a new initiative that has developed out of Future Water Networks 2020.

The challenge being addressed is to create a virtual place where water company network managers and operators, and the supply chain, can share knowledge and/or collaborate on innovations and emerging products and services aimed at specific areas (such as managing leakage, meeting leakage targets, making sewers smarter) for mutual benefit.

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As a focus, the group will:

• Allow water companies and supply chain to exchange knowledge freely
• Encourage participation from experienced and younger water professionals
• Encourage a mutual level of trust between users
• Be unbiased and precompetitive
• Provide templates for testing and reporting of innovative and emerging technologies, to allow objective and robust reporting of trials and evaluations
• Compile and report statistics and numbers on emerging technologies and services
• Allow water companies to communicate their future needs and requirements to the supply chain.
• Store, share and access reports/documentation on trials and evaluations of hard and soft technologies
• Allow water companies to collaborate and identify areas/companies who might be best placed to test different technologies (for example smart cities being used to test and evaluate technologies such as NbIOT, Lorawan other comms tech)
• Share data, questions and ideas

Outcomes for the Virtual Networks Group:

• To realise the benefits of new and emerging technologies more quickly, by sharing knowledge, evaluating and bringing them to market more quickly.

• Share best practices for the use new technology

• Identifying “Islands of excellence” that exist around various companies (water companies and the supply chain) and sharing their knowledge.
• Assessing innovations and emerging technologies and services once and sharing that knowledge
• Collaborating on future evaluations
• Promoting industry needs and requirements across the supply chain

Register your details to attend the meeting