Shaping the Future of Water Management through Digital Transformation and AI

Organised by the IWA YWP Sri Lanka chapter, and delivered in connection with the IWA Digital Water Programme, this webinar will explore how digital transformation and emerging AI technologies are reshaping water and wastewater management. It will introduce concepts such as Digital Water, Generative AI, and Agentic AI, explaining what these technologies are and how they work, before demonstrating - through practical, real-world examples - their potential to improve operational efficiency, predictive maintenance, and informed decision-making. The session will also highlight challenges such as data quality, cybersecurity, and ethical adoption, while discussing opportunities for countries like Sri Lanka.

Young Water Professionals, university students, researchers, academics, water-sector professionals and practitioners

• Introduce participants to the concept of Digital Water and explain how Generative AI and Agentic AI are transforming water-sector operations.
• Demonstrate, through practical examples, how AI and emerging technologies (digital twins, IoT, smart monitoring) support operational efficiency, predictive maintenance and informed decision-making.
• Discuss the opportunities and challenges of adopting these technologies — including the changing skills water professionals will need.

• Digital transformation is reshaping water-sector operations beyond data collection.
• AI technologies can unlock actionable intelligence and optimise water management.
• Building skills and institutional readiness is essential for responsible adoption.

• Kala Vairavamoorthy, Executive Director, International Water Association (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kala-vairavamoorthy-8867263/)
• Prof. Harsha Ratnaweera, Professor of Water and Wastewater Technology at the Qingdao University of Technology, China (https://www.linkedin.com/in/harsha-ratnaweera-3b00239/)