New Strategic Guide Aims to Accelerate Water Innovation
A new digital resource, the Water Innovation Strategy Ecosystem Guide, helps innovators navigate and connect across the UK and Ireland’s water sector, promoting cross-sector collaboration and sustainable progress.
- By Stasia DeMarco
- November 13, 2025
A new digital resource designed to help innovators navigate the UK and Ireland’s complex water innovation landscape has officially launched.
The Water Innovation Strategy Ecosystem Guide, developed by Spring, the region’s water sector innovation center of excellence, provides a practical overview of the organizations, funding opportunities, and partnerships that drive progress across the industry.
The guide serves as both a strategic reference and a “living database,” offering users an interactive way to explore how ideas move from concept to real-world adoption. It outlines the roles of utilities, regulators, funders, and partners — helping innovators identify available support and connect across sectors.
Carly Perry, managing director of Spring, said the new tool was created to strengthen collaboration and accelerate sustainable innovation.
“Working with a range of partners, we have created a practical tool for connection to help innovators—whether from utilities, academia, supply chains, start-ups or entirely new sectors—navigate the complex water innovation landscape more effectively,” Perry said.
The Ecosystem Guide complements the Water Innovation Strategy 2050, which Spring also manages on behalf of UK water companies. Together, the two initiatives aim to make the industry more open to cross-sector partnerships, including those from energy, nuclear, oil and gas, and agri-tech.
Perry added that the guide is designed as a shared reference point for continuous improvement:
“The result is a two-part resource — a high-level view of the innovation ecosystem and an evolving database of companies and available support. Spring is proud to maintain it as a live resource, enabling feedback and fostering collaboration.”
By offering clarity on the pathways to adoption, the Water Innovation Strategy Ecosystem Guide seeks to remove barriers and accelerate the deployment of innovative technologies and sustainable solutions across the UK and Ireland’s water sector.
About the Author
Stasia DeMarco is the Content Editor for EPOnline.