STANDARDISATION - KEY FOR GROWTH AND INNOVATION IN THE EUROPEAN SMART WATER MARKET

摘要

The European Commission (EC) is concerned to reduce Europe's dependence on external sources for its energy supplies. The distribution and disposal water are energy intensive processes accounting for a significant proportion of the total energy budget. Increasing the efficiency of these processes could therefore achieve some of the desired reduction in EU energy requirements. Several projects, funded by the European Commission (EC) and national/regional bodies, are considering how SMART technologies can be exploited for the benefit of consumers and industry in the water sector. Inevitably, at the current early stage of development, the various initiatives are uncoordinated and the systems and procedures being produced are not interoperable. Common sense and past experience suggest that were some of them to be interoperable or their outputs made comparable then even greater benefits would accrue, particularly with respect to the reduction of our energy consumption. The EC is relying on the establishment of a SMART water technology market to deliver the results of the current R & D programme. This extended abstract reports on a current investigation requested by the EC into whether or not the introduction of standards in the smart water sector will facilitate the development of this market.