Why smart water journal?

Philippe Gourbesville
2016 Smart Water  
Why smart water journal? Future water shortages require immediate action on development of resources, reduction of demand and higher efficiency in treatment and transmission. Future flood risk management requires immediate action in risk assessment, defence and alleviation systems, forecasting and warning systems and institutional and governance measures. Technology has been revolutionized over recent years and now, matured with mass production allowing wider uptake of methods and devices.
more » ... the development phase, technology is now entering an application and implementation phase that is targeting several fields including environment. At the worldwide scale, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been identified as a key factor for sustainable growth both where efficiency has to be achieved and where alternative to classical engineered solutions could be developed and implemented. In such context, ICT refer to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications. It is similar to Information Technology (IT), but focuses primarily on communication technologies. This includes the Internet, wireless networks, cell phones, and other communication mediums that are today massively used in modern societies and reshaping deeply current business processes. A low level of maturity concerning standardization of ICT solutions and business processes characterizes the current situation in the water domain. The massive and rapid spread of communicating devices and their application to the industrial sectors is not really coordinated. The implementation of solutions is only driven by opportunities and partial visions that are related most of time to local conditions, demands and resources. The gradual rationalisation of ICT solutions for several domains like energy and water will request a formalization effort in order to identify how solutions may help to improve the water cycle management and provide real added value. The water cycle can be addressed through three domains that are associated to specific activities and business processes: Protection of natural environment and ecosystems; Natural hazards mitigation and disaster prevention; Water uses. The first domain considers all actions needed to assess and advice on the environmental impacts of development proposals and projects related to specific water uses. Results are used by regulatory services. The domain covers also all conservation actions of water related ecosystems.
doi:10.1186/s40713-016-0001-7 fatcat:6mj6yzh3ordf3edmvzvwtfirh4