Analysis of Current ICT Solutions in Water Business Processes

Growing water demand caused by rapid urbanization and climate change has put stresses on the existing water resources management. According to the Environmental Outlook baseline, global water demand is expected to increase significantly (55% increased) from 2000 to 2050. This leads to the requirement of new technology and business platforms to manage the increasing complexity of the water management, which demands attention on demand reduction as well as higher efficiency in treatment and transmission. Although the ICT technology has been well developed and matured for mass production for wide update of means and devices, it has been observed that there is a lack of standardization concerning the ICT solutions and the business processes. To achieve a higher level of maturity, the added value of the ICT solutions on the business processes within the water domain has to be looked into. This paper presents the methodology proposed by @qua, an entity with an aim to elaborate a consistent vision for the future of ICT solutions in the water domain, where water business activities and processes are defined based on the water cycle and the associated water uses. Next, analysis of the needs, functionalities, trends and gaps of the ICT solutions associated to the respective water business processes (BPs) are conducted. Results show that there is a need for an overall consistent approach that consists of an integrated model of the water BPs.