WEX Global recently celebrated its 19th annual meeting in Valencia (Spain) with its sights set on improving the future of water. From February 10 to 12, over 230 people gathered in the city to discuss advances in water management at the conference entitled “Water, Energy and Climate Change: Partnerships for Progress to a World of Water Abundance.”
The meeting, which is a benchmark in the water sector, once again brought together some of the world’s leading figures in the field. Over 90 experts openly debated humanity’s most pressing water challenges across 20 conference sessions and round tables held over three days, as well as in numerous private meetings, all within an event focused on networking and cooperation.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION – THE BACKBONE OF THE FUTURE
On the first day of the event, participants learned about some of the cutting-edge solutions for water sustainability during visits to EMIVASA’s digital twin, the GoLab-Gamaser laboratory, and the Oceanogràfic aquarium’s control center in Valencia. All of these initiatives have digital transformation as their common denominator. In the words of Jaime Barba, CEO of Idrica, the company sponsoring WEX Global 2025 and co-host of the event: “the environment we live in is plagued with complex challenges, such as climate change, population growth, and aging infrastructure, all of which make digital transformation a key factor in water management. There is only one future for water, and it is digital.” Echoing this sentiment, Mark Barker, CEO of WEX Global, described digital transformation as a “differentiating factor”, underlining the importance of collaborative environments as being “key to accelerating improvements in water management.”
In addition to Idrica, the event’s sponsors included Global Omnium as the Welcoming Utility and the Xylem Vue platform as its Digital Transformation Partner. The conference addressed critical topics such as integrated water resource management, water intelligence, and digital solutions for energy efficiency and sustainable urban water management. It also explored strategies to promote the transition to a circular economy and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Along these lines, the severe floods that hit Valencia in October 2024 were very much in the minds of those attending the meeting. This was reflected in the opening address given by Dionisio García Comín, CEO of Global Omnium, who furnished a detailed technical account of events from the day of the floods until the present, including future planning. Likewise, Jean de Montal, Director Solution Selling Europe at Xylem, mentioned the importance of water as “the backbone of global sustainability (…), although this resource can also give rise to situations such as the flooding we experienced here just a few months ago”.
MIDDLE EAST REPRESENTATION
This year, WEX Global featured an added dimension in the shape of experts from the Middle East, who analyzed the region’s water challenges. Severe flooding also struck this area in 2024, with intense rainfall reaching 254 liters per square meter in just 24 hours.
The meeting was attended by HE Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Water at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, who participated in the panel discussion entitled “Innovative Approaches to Integrated Water Resource Management: Technology and Collaboration for a Sustainable Future”, where he detailed some of the key measures that have been implemented in recent years to improve water management in the region. He was also one of the specialists on the panel “The Power of Partnerships: Unlocking Potential for Sustainable Development”, which underscored the importance of collaboration between organizations and networking to drive sustainable development.
One of the highlights of WEX Global was the gala dinner, sponsored by Idrica, which, in addition to fostering networking, also served as the backdrop for the WEX awards. These accolades recognize the work of water utilities in various areas of innovation such as water circularity, decarbonizing, digitalized water management and, finally, building healthy watersheds.
