EU-funded project seeks to save water through effective knowledge sharing

The EU-funded SWITCH-ON project is trying to develop freely accessible online tools to enable sustainable and efficient water resource management, according to a press release of the European Commission on Tuesday.

Environmental information tools are in high demand but not always available or accessible, partly due to a wide dispersion of potentially useful material and a lack of information on how to actually apply available tools at an acceptable cost.

Therefore, SWITCH-ON, which began in November 2013, seeks to promote the use of open data tools to support sustainable water use. Open data is the idea that certain information should be freely available to everyone without restrictions.

By exploiting the untapped potential of open data, the project team believes it is possible to improve water information provision, leading to more efficient environmental services and better handling of environmental problems, including those induced by climate and environmental change.

"We are currently developing the portal at www.water-switch-on.eu," explained project coordinator Berit Arheimer, head of hydrological research at the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), "This will contain 14 new products to aid operational water management, all based on open data. We have had stakeholder workshops to get feedback on the products so far, and to judge market potential."

The virtual water-science laboratory is one tool currently under development. Dedicated software and modeling tools would enable scientists to contrast water-related processes in different environments, and help them understand complex processes in a more holistic way.

"The first scientific journal paper on using the Virtual Lab is currently under revision, while six new scientific experiments are now under way," added Arheimer.

Potential end-users include environmental consultancies, agriculture, hydropower companies, insurance companies and governmental authorities.

The portal would also run an open virtual product market, with products and services for water managers. A virtual meeting place where visitors can have a dialogue on product development and marketing is also being constructed.

"We want to build bridges between policy-makers, water managers, product developers and researchers with this one-stop shop," explained Arheimer.

While focused on water, it is hoped that the project will inspire the sharing of environmental and societal knowledge in other domains, by demonstrating that openness and collaboration can lead to innovation, said the press release. Endit