Saturday, March 30, 2024

Challenge ends as real work begins

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Pulling water from thin air and artificial intelligence could be two answers to support water sustainability. Water is essential to all facets of agriculture and food production and we need innovation and collaboration to ensure quality and availability into the future.
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The Water Challenge was launched in February by Australian-based Bridge Hub, which is an agrifood tech innovation hub, and has attracted over 150 researchers and entrepreneurs from Australia, New Zealand and Israel. The 2020 winners were recently announced.

“Our aim was to uncover the best and brightest research, the most innovative ideas, and the best start-ups that positively impact water quality and availability across our agrisystem,” Bridge Hub co-chief executive Craig Shapiro says.

“Winning solutions as diverse as creating water from air, measuring water with acoustics and sludge-free waste recycling for remote communities, highlights that the Water Challenge has been successful in its aim of uncovering some of the leading cutting-edge solutions currently being developed.”

The winning teams receive recognition and prize money but more importantly, connections and the ability to collaborate across the globe with other like-minded communities who share Bridge Hub’s passion for solving global water-related problems are developed. 

He says the quality of not only the winning solutions but of all the applicants highlights that we have the capacity to achieve anything if we turn our minds to the task at hand. Adding our ability to solve problems across the entire agrifood supply chain is only limited by our imagination, as long as we have the right frameworks in place.

In announcing the winners, he says, “While today marks the end of the Water Challenge, it is just the beginning of a bigger journey of working with a global community of like-minded organisations and individuals to transform many of the big ideas and solutions submitted into impactful and successful outcomes.”

The Water Challenge wraps up at a time when agrifood research bodies are increasing their focus on both commercialisation and adoption of research, climate change continues to present global challenges and Australian agriculture considers how it achieves its goal of becoming a $100 billion industry.

Significant funding is being allocated by many governments to help underpin the future growth of the agriculture and food sectors with many positive initiatives underway. Many of these include a focus on drought resilience and water quality.

Shapiro believes there will be an increasing pool of capital available to be allocated to investment opportunities in the agrifood tech sector. Including capital from a growing pool of global impact investors, who require normal financial returns but also want their investments to have a positive and sustainable impact on the environment or society.

“Ultimately, we need the private sector, research and government working together to increase investment which will underwrite the successful and sustainable future for agriculture and food production,” he says. 

“The establishment of industry-led agrifood tech bodies such as AgritechNZ and Ausagritech, will also help to drive investment towards the rapidly growing agrifood tech sector. 

“We are extremely optimistic about the direction we’re heading and particularly how the ideas unlocked from the Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge can play a role in that sustainable future.”

Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge winners

Australian Research Stream – sponsored by CSIRO

Advanced Capture of Water from the Atmosphere (ACWA) – Professor Chiara Neto, The University of Sydney for groundbreaking research that is working on a new water solution that aims to capture water from the air.

New Zealand Research Stream – sponsored by Zespri

Real-time control of irrigation through acoustic sensing to prevent runoff and pollution. (Acoustic sensing for Irrigation) – Dr Chandra Ghimire, AgResearch Ltd. Lincoln New Zealand for research that is using acoustic technology to help irrigators to be smarter with their water efficiency.

Australian Startup Stream – sponsored by Commonwealth Bank

Streamwise DI – Paul Hatten, of Clayton, Victoria, for a waste water solution that improves environmental outcomes and operating efficiencies of food manufacturers through the use of artificial intelligence.

New Zealand Startup Stream – Sponsored by Wharf42

RiverWatch – James Muir, Matarangi, for a water quality solution that provides real time monitoring and decision-making for our rivers and waterways. 

Israel Startup Stream

LagunaTech –Clive Lipchin, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Kibbutz Ktura, for decentralised wastewater treatment solution that assists remote and off-grid communities to create new water sources.

For more information about the Challenge, visit waterchallenge.co

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