The Water Research Centre (WRc) is proposing the introduction of a National Innovation Accelerator for Water (NIAW) in a bid to hasten innovation in the normally risk-averse water sector.
The WRc claims that despite the industry not being short of ideas or concepts, and supply chain companies being able to turn concepts into products in a 3-year timeframe, end-users create a “commercial dead-end” by requiring extended and duplicated trials before they commit, often leaving supply chain concepts to “die in gestation.”
Therefore, the research centre has proposed the setting up of the NIAW. There are existing testing and demonstration facilities that are dispersed across a small number of sites but these facilities are often underutilised as they tend to be regional rather than national.
According to the WRc, independent co-ordination of these facilities, under proper governance, would provide a national capability for testing and demonstrating innovative solutions.
The use of these facilities under agreed and well defined operational conditions with unambiguous, evidence based and transparent reporting would accelerate adoption and incentivise the supply chain to invest in more innovation for the water sector.
The NIAW would be a virtual hub that will co-ordinate and manage the testing and demonstration of technologies, processes and systems for product developers and suppliers.
The NIAW will also provide initial support for market evaluation and business case development, communicate end-users’ needs and requirements, develop and define testing and demonstration protocols and oversee the activities of the individual testing and demonstration centres.
The hub will also ensure that testing and demonstrations are robust and evidence based, that the facilities used reflect real-life conditions and that testing and demonstrations are carried out in the most cost effective manner.
It will initially be targeted at the demonstration of developed, but unproven, innovations seeking market entry; in the longer term it would seek to make the testing facilities available to companies and universities to support the development of new concepts.
Comments on the proposed ideas should be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by Friday 12th October 2012.
You can find the consultation document here.
Between October 2012 and March 2013 the WRc will carry out a detailed audit of available testing centres that would like to be affiliated with the NIAW, and develop plans for the financing, governance and membership of the NIAW.
The WRc expects to present its business case for the project in April or May 2013.