The International Association of Water Companies from the Danube Region (IAWD), with the support of the World Bank and the Government of Austria, is organizing this year’s Danube Water Forum entitled “The Importance of Water Sector Data in the Digital Age”. Due to the coronary virus pandemic, the Forum is being held virtually this year in the form of a three-day series of webinars in the period 27-29. October 2020.
On the first day of the Forum, the situation was presented at the international level, and then we moved to the Danube region and tried to show how the availability of data helps to assess the improvement of the water sector in the Danube region. This was followed by presentations of water sector data in a cross-sectoral context, taking into account integrated water resources management and water safety aspects.
On the second day of the Danube Water Forum, participants are scheduled to address the interrelationship between smart policy decisions and the availability of reliable data, and then to consider the value of data on reliable performance indicators needed to finance water services.
On the third and final day, the importance of data collection as a basis for improving the performance of utility companies will be discussed and the main conclusions of the Forum reached in the panel discussions will be summarized.
Participants of the Danube Water Forum are national institutions (ministries, regulatory agencies), national water supply and local government associations, representatives of local governments and utilities from the Danube region, representatives of associations of regional utilities (IAWD) and municipal utilities (NALAS), EU representatives GIZ, SDC and the World Bank, representatives of the academic community, private companies and others.
On the first day of the Danube Water Forum, the Mayor of the City of Banja Luka, Mr. Igor Radojicic and Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management in the RS Government, Mr. Milan Gavrić. Representatives of “Vodovod” a.d. will also participate in the Forum for the next two days. Banja Luka, as well as the association “Vodovodi Republike Srpske”.
