The time is right to refocus the dialogue on practical action and solutions in the water sector. A process is needed, bringing together leaders in the industry and facilitating real on-the-ground initiatives to bring our industry to its full potential.
The Global Water Leaders Group aims to initiate this process through its common solution programme. A working group of members, together with management consultants McKinsey and selected experts, will be developing a compelling take-off narrative for the industry. This will help structure the dialogue on actions, and establish a practical approach to transformation.
Let's start by imagining the water sector in 10 years' time. Does it have to be the way it is today, or can it be different?
Looking across at the transformation that has occurred in other industries - energy, telecoms, healthcare – we know it is possible. But we need to ask:
Achieving change in the water sector is a huge challenge.
With their huge fixed asset bases buried beneath the ground, water utilities possess tremendous inertia – inertia which often dissipates the momentum for change.
The programme adopted by the Global Water Leaders Group must defy the nature of water infrastructure in order to succeed.
Fortunately the world is changing in our favour:
The ingredients are there to tell a better story on behalf of the water sector. One which is about performance, customer service, environmental stewardship, and accellerated investment.
