More than 77 speakers and leading experts from 19 countries will be taking part in the upcoming 'International Water Summit (IWS)' being hosted by Masdar in partnership with Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority.

The 2014 conference edition to be held from January 20 to 22 at Adnec will address key challenges and solutions facing the arid regions in integrated water resource management, renewable energy desalination, successful strategies for water re-use, optimizing water production, water security issues, and the water-energy nexus, said the organisers.

It will highlight case studies and host best practice sharing sessions from different countries like Japan, Singapore, United States, Australia, UAE and Saudi Arabia making IWS an essential platform for solving and implementing water solutions.

Endorsed by International Desalination Academy (IDA), IWS will offer 15 industry enhancing desalination sessions that will provide groundbreaking scientific insights on low energy desalination technologies as well discussing the IDA strategic selection with a special focus on the GCC region and the evaluation system.

In addition to the main conference sessions, IWS will also host the IDA Academy courses alongside the conferences this year, they stated.

IWS Exhibition & Conference, part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, will bring together over 5000 policy and business leaders, scientists, academia, innovators and entrepreneurs in a collaborative environment, to solve water sustainability challenges in arid regions.
The IWS 2014 conference program will feature some of the key leading water sustainability experts such as Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, the director general of Adwea; Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, the secretary general, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD), Dr Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-AlShaikh, the deputy governor for Planning & Development, SWCC, Saudi Arabia & President of  International Desalination Association; Dr Peter H. Gleick, the president, Pacific Institute, US; Adrian Sym, the executive director, Alliance for Water Stewardship, Germany and Dr Andreas Hauser, the director of Water Services, TUV SUD Asia Pacific, Singapore.

“IWS 2014 is a must attend event because it provides a forum for leaders and water professionals to cross-pollinate ideas and learn from each other. Being located at one of the epicenter of water scarcity, the event pays homage to the importance of water in our lives and for our global economy” remarked Borja Blanco, the senior VP of Desalination - Energy Recovery, US.

“IWS and other similar events bring together the best “water-brains” in one place to share knowledge and experience,” said Malcolm Haddock, the planning and forecasting manager, Asset Division (ADSSC), UAE.

“Within our daily jobs we do not often get the opportunity to learn about and discuss solutions that have been successful in other similar arid regions,” he stated.

Yousuke Matsumiya, the director for International Division, Technical Department, Japan Sewage Works Association (JSWA) will share on how the Japanese are advancing water reuse technology as part of the Waste Water Treatment and Re-Use workshop.

Maurice Neo, the director for Industry Development, Public Utilities Board Singapore (PUB) will share Singapore’s water sustainability success story in the main conference.

The program also gives companies such as utilities, contractors and MEP consultants an opportunity to gain from best industry practices in the market and to be introduced to the latest cutting edge technology; giving businesses an opportunity to adopt the best technology, said the organisers.

“To ensure that one’s company is utilizing the right equipment to provide the most efficient solution the IWS provides a meeting place of all technologies and ideas” said Charles Solomon, International Consultant Pipeline and Nitrogen - Global Industrial Water, US.  

“Abu Dhabi with initiatives like Masdar, and a big user of latest technologies in water and power productions and located in a region that is the biggest user of desalinated water can offer a unique opportunity to acquaint oneself with the best products and practices in these fields” remarked GhassanEjjeh, the senior VP (Besix Group) Belgium.

Participation at the IWS conference and exhibition will provide the benefits of learning about new solutions and sourcing it from a competitive global market place without the need for to take multiple business trips.-TradeArabia News Service