The European Commission has launched a call for evidence to support the development of an EU-wide Action Plan on digitalisation in the water sector, including an initiative on smart meters for all.
The plan, which was announced in the 2025 Water Resilience Strategy and the Commission Work Programme for 2026, aims to modernise water management through data-driven innovation.
Its goal is to help increase water efficiency, protect the water cycle and ensure that clean, affordable water remains available by improving water infrastructure and enhancing overall EU competitiveness.
The plan also supports the large-scale deployment of the Internet of Things (IoT), including smart sensors and meters, to enable more agile water management. Smart meters can reduce water use by up to 25%, with digital systems saving an additional 5–8% and leak detection reducing consumption by a further 7–14%.
Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy said:
“With our Digitalisation Action Plan on water, we aim to unlock the potential of new technologies and digital solutions. These can help to increase water efficiency, reduce leaks and improve how water infrastructure is managed.
I look forward to ideas and contributions from experts, innovators and stakeholders across the board to strengthen digitalisation in the water sector.”
The call seeks to gather evidence and best practices on how technologies such as artificial intelligence can improve efficiency and infrastructure resilience, as well as the challenges that must be faced when implementing them, including regulatory bottlenecks which prevent scaling-up solutions across EU countries.
The commission is encouraging a wide range of stakeholders to take part in the online consultation, which is open until 24 June.
These include public authorities, river basin managers, the water industry, water-intensive economic sectors such as agriculture, energy and data centres, IT and digital solution providers, research and academia.
The EU Action Plan for the Digitalisation of the water sector – included in the Commission Work Programme for 2026 – is one of the flagship initiatives under the European Water Resilience Strategy.
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