Ausgabe zur IFAT 2018

5 Ausg.Nr._10/2018 IFAT 2018 IFAT 2018: Water sector follows the digitalization trend 14.–18.05.2018 T he provision of afford- able drinking water in top quality is one of the most important tasks of the water sector. To be able to do that, the industry needs continuous inno- vations in order to maintain the high standards for the future. The latest developments in the field of drinking water prepara- tion and distribution will be on show at the upcoming trade fair IFAT. The ‘World´s Leading Trade Fair for Water, Sewage, Waste and Raw Materials Manage- ment’, takes place at the Messe München exhibition center in Munich from May 14 to 18, 2018. Silvia Fritscher, Exhibition Di- rector of IFAT at the trade-fair company, has observed that for some years now more and more of the innovations presented at IFAT are to do with the key topics of digitalization, automation and Water 4.0. This is a trend that will further strengthen in 2018. Analysis sensors as part of the network “The greatest progress in digitali- zation in the drinking water sec- tor is seen currently in the areas of pump controls, measurement technology and drinking water analysis,” says Julia Braune, Managing Director of the German Water Partnership (GWP), an in- dustry and research network. Opportunities from a “digital twin” Even more extensive scope for digitalization lies in setting up a “digital twin”. This is a data model which depicts a machine, a system or even a complex infra- structure with all its information and interdependencies. Christian Ziemer, Siemens AG and Head of the GWP Working Group Water 4.0, sets out one possible ap- plication in drinking water and waste water: “With a digital twin we can do real-life simulations, completely without risk, to test various approaches and optimize them.” Better identification of custo- mer needs The importance of digital change has been recognized in the field of municipal water supplies – that was a clear finding in a survey of itsmembers conducted by the Ver- band Kommunaler Unternehmen (VKU – the German association of public utility companies): More than two thirds of the companies rated digitalization as of high or very high relevance. And already one in two companies are either planning or implementing a digi- talization strategy. “Digitalization underlines the benefit to cus- tomers and citizens as a central impetus for change,” points out Michael Beckereit, President of the VKU. ‘Maturity Model Water Supply 4.0’ in development In order to give support to compa- nies in the water supply sector on digitalization, the Deutscher Ver- ein des Gas- und Wasserfaches (DVGW–German Association for Gas and Water) commissioned in autumn the development of a ‘Maturity Model Water Supply 4.0’. “We hope that this model will give us a valid overview of the current practices in digitalization in the water sector. Ideally we will be able to derive improvement measures from this and then in- troduce them in a sensible se- quence,” explains Dr. Dirk Waider, Vice President Water at the DVGW.  Text & Image: Messe München GmbH Messegelände D-81823 München