Open Innovation 2.0 Yearbook 2013 - European Commission - Europa

3.3. Smarter water: why open innovation is essential for managing the
world’s most essential resource
Introduction
Water is one of our most essential resources. Yet
many of us may not fully realise how important
water actually is and the extent of the interconnections
between water and a host of other areas.
We cannot survive without water — aside from the
water we directly consume, it is also a key input for
producing the food needed for our survival. As the
world’s population increases from 7 billion now to
an estimated 8 billion in 2025 [1], the demand for
water will rise to satisfy increased demand for food,
particularly as meat consumption in global diets
increases [2]. Every time you consume a kilo of beef
you may not realise that it takes 15 500 litres to
produce it compared to 1 300 litres for a kilo of
wheat [3].
Water is also critically important for health and this
link is significant — over 50 % of the world’s hospital
beds are occupied by people suffering from
water-related diseases [4]. Water is also essential
for producing a host of goods and services right
across the economy. Each of us, on average, consumes
about 3 800 litres a day embodied in the
goods and services we produce as well as the water
we directly consume [5]. As the world’s population
and their incomes grow, so too will demand for the
water to produce the goods and services needed
to satisfy consumption. Energy, in particular, is
heavily reliant on water — it accounts for almost
half of the total water used in the United States [6]
and 44 % in the European Union [7]. As our energy
needs grow, so too will our need for water and
issues with water availability are already restricting
energy production in various ways [8].
A less obvious, but still important, link is to our
transport networks — road and rail networks are
becoming more vulnerable to flooding from storm
surges, rainstorms and rising water tables [9],
transport infrastructure along coastal regions is at
increasing risk from sea level rises [10], while at the
other end of the spectrum, drought is pushing roads
to their design limits and causing cracking [11], as
well as restricting navigation channels [12].
The world’s water system is facing
several significant challenges
It is important for us to realise the full extent of
how important water is because the world’s water
system is experiencing several significant issues
that are creating critical vulnerabilities. The impact
of these problems could potentially be widespread
given the nature and extent of the interlinkage
between water and other systems that we have
just described. And, while each of these issues on
their own is significant, they are also interrelated,
so challenges in one area can worsen and exacerbate
the problems we are facing in other areas of
our water system (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Interrelated challenges
in the world’s water system
Population growth and urbanisation are driving
a significant increase in water usage and this
is creating a problem with water stress — where
demand exceeds water available [13]. The intensity
of our water use is also rising — water use
increased at twice the rate of population growth
between 1900 and 1995 [14]. At the same time,
water availability is decreasing and this is worsened
by declining water quality in many parts of the
world which effectively reduces the supply of water
available [15]. As a result, we are facing growing
problems with water stress and this is affecting all
regions globally [16].
We are also facing almost universal issues with
the infrastructure underpinning our water system.
Many systems have problems with water
that is ‘unaccounted for’ or lost through leakages
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