Purpose:

In this project new digital business opportunities for water technology SMEs are created by strengthening both new and existing data platforms and leveraging open data for a more efficient water industry and green transition.

The project builds on three major projects from Lighthouse Water Tech phase 1, all of which have generated knowledge and experiences with data collection, sharing, and digitization from various areas of the water sector.

Main project activities that enhance SMEs’ digital innovation capacity in the following ways:

• Case-based innovation processes where SMEs are invited to develop specific, needs-based digital solutions to address critical issues and needs in the water industry. Each SME gains access to a range of experts from research institutions, GTS organizations, and consulting firms, supplementing them with knowledge they may not possess about the water sector, as well as tools and methods they may lack. As part of the innovation processes, SMEs have open access to data from utility companies, municipalities, and regions, which is an essential resource for digital solutions.
• Building a prototype of a water data-sharing IT architecture, a ‘sandbox.’ Building knowledge about data sharing and experiences with standardizing data will mature decisions on how the Danish water industry establishes a common data-sharing platform (Water Data Space) in order to promote increased digitization and growth among Danish SMEs.

The data sharing and innovation processes in the activity ensure the activation of SMEs to create growth and maturity in data utilization (data sharing) to improve the SMEs’ new digital business opportunities. The developed solutions will be open source, contributing to the possibility for all interested parties to build upon the project’s solutions. This will result in new solutions that can be used both nationally and internationally.