Calling all vendors and solution providers—can you help?

Smart water metering is a rapidly evolving, technology-driven field. Every year, the market expands, with many water utilities looking to scale up their pilot projects, upgrade existing systems, or even launch entirely new roll-outs. To navigate these technological challenges, water utilities need your expertise. Can you offer the solutions and insight they require?

Scenario 1: Implementing Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

Can you walk utilities through minimising costs while integrating AMI systems with existing infrastructure? How does your solution compare in terms of operational and maintenance costs? What is the cost-benefit analysis of obtaining more accurate, real-time data, and how does this support a strong business case?

Scenario 2: New Communication Technologies, Including Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN)

From our research, there seems to be conflicting data on the coverage and penetration capabilities of LPWAN in both urban and rural areas—can you clarify this for water utilities? Specifically, with narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), what are the expected battery lifespans for meters, and how easy is it to scale NB-IoT across an entire utility network? How secure are these communication networks, especially since cybersecurity is a hot topic for 2025?

Scenario 3: Smart Meter Data Analytics

Water utilities are looking to use smart meter data analytics to gain better insights from their data. These platforms sound compelling, but how can you customise data analytics to meet specific utility needs? Additionally, how does your platform handle data security and privacy?

Scenario 4: Cybersecurity for Smart Water Metering Solutions

For those providing hardware or AMI solutions, what measures are in place to protect against cyber threats? How does your system comply with GDPR and other regulations? What are the best practices for guaranteeing security while minimising the costs and complexity of implementing these measures?

Scenario 5: Battery Technology for Smart Meters

What is the expected battery life for your meter type, and how easy is it to replace or recharge batteries in the field? What are the impacts on cost and the environment?

Scenario 6: Cloud-Based Metering Solutions

How do you guarantee the security of cloud-based metering systems? How do these systems impact data accessibility and reliability?

These scenarios represent just a snapshot of the questions that utilities face when deploying advanced technologies. 

This year, we’re enhancing the experience by integrating more roundtable discussions into each morning and afternoon session to discuss in-depth questions like these. After the curated Q&A sessions, you'll have the opportunity to dive deeper into these issues with your peers, share findings, and connect with vendors. We hope these discussions will be valuable for water utilities and vendors, fostering new relationships and solutions.