European water utilities are confronted with multiple challenges: increasing water scarcity and extreme weather events, ageing infrastructure, growing affordability concerns, to name just a few. Through real-time continuous control of flows in the water network, smart water meter an help water utilities improve the management of water resources for the benefit of both users and the nature (e.g. fast detection of leakage, improvement of customer service, prioritisation of investments-). However, existing solutions for smart metering still present several technological limitations. Regulatory barriers and market fragmentation are then limiting the incentives for innovative companies to develop better solutions.

Led by a group of seven public water utilities, the SMART.MET research project has been funded by the EU Horizon2020 programme with the objective of driving the development of innovative and better performing solutions for smart meters, through the launch of a joint trans-national Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP).

The SMART.MET final conference will be the opportunity to learn more about the technological innovations that have been developed in the framework of the project, as well as to the discuss the implication of PCP approach to stimulate innovation in the water sector. The partners of the consortium will discuss the outcomes of the project with representatives of European institutions, regulators, and other stakeholders.

The conference will be followed in the afternoon by a technological fair. Water utilities and experts will have the chance to explore - more in-depth and from a technical perspective - the potentialities of the new solutions by dialoguing directly with the companies that developed the innovative smart meters, as well as the representatives from water utilities that have tested the solutions on the field.

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About SMART.MET (PCP for Water Smart Metering)

SMART.MET - PCP for Water Smart Metering is a European project funded under the Horizon 2020 research programme and launched in 2017. The SMART.MET project, coordinated by Office International de l’Eau (OIEau), aims at promoting demand-driven research into the development of new innovative smart meter solutions that fully cater to the needs of water utilities.

Smart water metering presents itself as an effective solution to the challenges faced by the majority of European water utilities today, from extreme events induced by climate change to the need to replace ageing infrastructure. Indeed, providing access to accurate data in real-time can help decrease operating costs and prioritise infrastructure investments, while improving the daily management of networks and customer services. 

The buyers’ group is composed of seven water utilities from five different EU countries which came together in the SMART.MET project to guide the development of new technologies based on open technological platforms for the remote reading of water meters.  

Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) concerns the procurement of research and development services. It is a unique instrument to foster competition for the development of high quality and alternative solutions whilst providing an adapted answer to common needs and opening new markets for companies. 

Driving the development of new solutions for smart water metering data collection and management.