Steve's Welcome

Published On 08/06/2023

It is that time of year again, as many organisations release their annual reviews.

As we prepared our own Annual Review earlier this year, it has given me cause to reflect on what both UKWIR as an organisation, and the industry, have achieved over the past 12 months. It is astonishing. While I hope you will take time to read our Annual Review, I wanted to share some of the highlights.

UKWIR has continued to build on the core research programme and secured significant new research collaboration streams, delivering 39 reports, including publishing 13 new reports from the industry’s Chemical Investigations Programme (CIP3), as well as an updated carbon accounting workbook. We are working with several universities, including Imperial College London and the universities of Sheffield, Cranfield, Exeter and Bath – building on our strategic academic partnerships and co-funding specific projects aligned with our Big Questions.

We have set up an independent Advisory Group on Substances of Emerging Concern to advise the water sector and provide UKWIR with independent, evidence led scientific advice and support, and to act as a ‘critical friend’ on research matters pertaining to substances of emerging concern relevant to the water sector.

Our recruitment drive across 2022 for new Programme Leads was successful, and we’ve brought in three new Programme Leads and seven new Co-Programme Leads from senior roles across the sector to help us to drive research in 2023.

Supporting our ambition to provide open access to our research for not only members but collaborators, regulators, academics, and other key stakeholders, over 1,000 of our research reports are now free to access on-line.

Open sharing of data and information plays a significant role in driving collaborative research, innovation and learning across sectors. It can also help build bridges to new organisations, instigate new partnerships, and spark new ideas.

Looking forward across 2023, we are also working in earnest on this year’s upcoming Annual Conference which will be held in London on 30th November. More information on the Conference will be announced shortly and I am excited to share more about this exciting event in due course. We hope our members and stakeholders will join us at the conference. Together we can work to ensure a sustainable future for the water industry.

Thank you for your continued support.

Steve Kaye, UKWIR CEO