Water Sector Organizations Collaborate on Innovation

Staff from the Water Environment Federation (Alexandria, Va.), Water Environment Research Foundation (Alexandria, Va.), American Water Works Association (Denver), and Water Research Foundation (Denver) met Dec. 10 to share updates on each organization’s efforts on water sector innovation. During the meeting Jeff Lape, deputy director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Science and Technology, spoke about EPA’s Water Technology Innovation Blueprint Version 2.0 published in April 2014, and Sally Gutierrez, director of the EPA’s Environmental Technology Innovation Cluster Development and Support Program, presented on the cluster program’s progress. The organizations committed to

• support innovation ecosystems including technology incubators, technology accelerators, and water innovation clusters, and
• explore a collaborative effort, building on individual organizations’ efforts as well as EPA’s work to catalyze innovation.