Earlier this month, BlueTech Research hosted this year’s BlueTech Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The annual event sees some of the brightest minds in the global water sector, including industrial water users, utilities, municipalities, technology providers, investment companies, and academic institutions, come together to discuss common problems and work towards solutions.
The theme for 2022 was “radical collaboration for regeneration,” with attendees focusing on accelerating best practices in water management and net-zero carbon emissions. The three-day event included networking, Bluenote speakers, roundtable meetings, hands-on workshops, expert insights, industrial water challenges, and an Innovation Showcase and awards ceremony.
Pani’s CEO and our Head of Customer Success both attended, participating in panel discussions and roundtables, as well as pitching the Pani platform during the Innovation Showcase. The showcase saw 22 companies from Canada, Chile, the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries pitch their solutions. Innovations ranged from hardware to software and covered everything from water reuse and the circular economy to sanitation, energy recovery, and stormwater, greywater and blackwater, and brine management, to name a few.
After the showcase, the Investment Judging Panel and conference delegates were asked to vote for their favourite solutions, culminating in an awards ceremony that doled out two blue awards: Best Technology Innovation and Best Go To Market Strategy. We were excited to win the “Best Go To Market Strategy” category by unanimous votes, recognized for our multi-level approach that helps water facilities at all levels, from fully manual to fully automated processes, to improve operational efficiencies, reduce their risks and costs, and increase access to safe and sustainable water supplies.
We also want to congratulate fellow Canadians and showcasees, RainStick Shower, for winning “Best Technology Innovation” for their circular shower system that saves up to 80% energy and 80% water during a typical 10-minute shower!
Some other takeaways from the event included:
Showing purpose by coming together to promote the stewardship of water around the world because no company can solve these issues alone,
Digital technology is key because it is faster to implement and has the potential to be more powerful than refitting infrastructure,
Artificial intelligence is still getting a lot of buzz and adoption is becoming more widespread
Creative solutions, like removing the fencing around water treatment plants to integrate the process into cities and parks, can help every person connect with the role treatment facilities play in daily life,
There are numerous opportunities to develop treatment plants around other businesses that have a symbiotic relationship with water use, such as data centers and wastewater plants. This is the type of radical collaboration and outside-the-box problem solving that’s needed to further responsible water stewardship for companies and societies.
Focusing on how water is used and managed is critical, as is making water a human right by prioritizing greater access and inclusion. This will require an across-the-board effort to transcend national borders and financial barriers,
There are many plants in many sectors, all with various levels of digital maturity. The priorities for many as similar, however, and include risk reduction, knowledge retention, and training the next generation of operators and water processing professionals.
Contact our team to learn more about Pani or get started today.
