The BLUE PLANET Berlin Water Dialogues an November 22nd, 2022 focused on Artificial Intelligence: Reshaping the Water Industry. The event adressed the following topics:

  • Segment I – Opportunities for the water sector
  • Segment II – Barriers to climb

Click here to view the agenda. Find video recordings of the sessions below.

Welcoming remarks

  • Julia Braune; General Manager, German Water Partnership e.V.
  • Jochen Rabe; Managing Director, Berlin Centre of Competence for Water (KWB)
  • Stefan Tidow; State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV)

Segment I – Opportunities for the water sector

Introductory Keynote Speeches

  • Sella Nevo; Head of the Google Flood Forecasting Initiative, Google
  • Nicolas Zimmer; CEO Technology Foundation Berlin

Panel Discussion AI: Disrupting the water industry

Moderated by Dr. Richard J. Vestner; Senior Director, Bentley Systems

  • Navaneethan Santhanam; Chief Scientist, SmartTerra
  • Alexandre Vallieres; Director of AI Strategy and Research, Bentley Systems
  • Oliver Grievson; Technical Lead, Z-Tech Control Systems
  • Anja Eimer; General Manager Global Water Industry, Siemens AG

Break-Out Sessions I

Session 1: The future of sewer asset management with AI

Moderated by Dr. Nicolas Caradot; Group Leader Smart City and Infrastructure, Berlin Centre of Competence for Water (KWB)

  • Nic Lengemann; Berlin Waterworks (BWB)
  • Dr. Aisha Mamade; Engineer Lead, Baseform

Session 2: Ongoing BMBF research projects

  • Norman Schweimanns; Research Associate, Berlin University of Technology (TU Berlin)

Segment II – Barriers to climb

Introductory Keynote Speeches:

  • Prof. Andrea Cominola; Assistant Professor, Berlin University of Technology (TU Berlin)
  • Dr. Riccardo Taormina; Assistant Professor, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)

Panel Discussion Hydroinformatics – New data sources

Moderated by Dr. David Steffelbauer; Group Leader, Berlin Centre of Competence for Water (KWB)

  • Ina Vertommen, Team Manager & Researcher Hydroinformatics, KWR Water Research Institute
  • Dr. Antonio Moreno-Rodenas; Researcher / Data Science Program Coordinator, Deltares
  • Marten Hutten; Data Scientist, Vitens

Break-Out Sessions II

Session 3: Challenges in the use of AI in sewer management

  • Felix Naser; Head of Operations, Pallon AG

Session 4: Adopting to AI in the industry

  • Chris Thomas; Head of Innovation and Enterprise, ISLE Utilities

Session 5: Scaling an AI solution for sewer monitoring for 5m people

  • Dr. Adam Cartwright; Head of IoT Applications, Siemens UK

Closing

Closing Keynote

  • Dr. Newsha Ajami; Chief Development Officer for Research, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab