Innovation Driven Water Sustainability Conference 2026
About the event
The fifth Innovation Driven Water Sustainability Conference takes place from 14 to 16 December 2026 at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Jeddah, under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz, Adviser to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah Region. It is hosted in the Kingdom by the Saudi Water Authority and brings together global water leaders, innovators and researchers to drive investment, policy and technology forward.
The programme runs across three days examining how water systems are governed, financed and deployed at scale, with the policymakers, financiers, utilities, industry and technology leaders responsible for making that happen. Sessions cover water and public health in cities; whether water security can survive the energy transition; losses in desalination projects; aquifer management; public private partnerships, blended finance and the pricing of water risk; water data governance; artificial intelligence and predictive analytics in utility operations; what comes after conventional reverse osmosis; and cyber resilience for water infrastructure. Alongside the conference run a global exhibition, the fourth edition of the Global Prize for Innovation in Water, the MiyahThon hackathon, technical briefings, and the Water Academy led by the Saudi Water Authority.
Attendance is by one of three passes bought through the conference site, priced in dollars and excluding VAT: the visitor pass at 100 dollars, covering the exhibition floor, live demonstrations, networking zones and the exhibitor directory; the delegate pass at 400 dollars, adding full conference session entry, technical workshops, a certificate of attendance and daily networking lunch; and the premium pass at 1,000 dollars, adding VIP lounge access, fast-track registration, private meeting room booking and a gala dinner invitation. Early-bird prices run until 30 September 2026 at 50, 100 and 250 dollars respectively.
Agenda
33- 12:10–12:45Main Stage: Water, Public Health and the Urban Social Contract
- 14:00–14:40Main Stage: Can Water Security Survive the Energy Transition?
- 14:00–14:15Industry Stage: Water Performance: The New Operating KPI
- 14:20–15:00Industry Stage: When Water Becomes the Licensing Question
- 14:45–15:25Main Stage: Closing the Leak: The Hidden Cost in Every Desalination Investment
- 15:15–15:45Industry Stage: Running Operations You're Still Learning to Run
- 15:30–16:10Main Stage: The Aquifer Reckoning: Managing What Cannot Be Replaced
- 16:05–16:35Industry Stage: Where the Operational Pressure Hits Hardest
- 16:25–16:55Main Stage: Engineering for Weather That No Longer Exists
- 11:20–11:50Main Stage: Risk, Return and Responsibility in Public-Private Partnerships
- 11:55–12:25Main Stage: Blended Finance: Progress, Pitfalls and Commercial Integration
- 14:00–14:15Industry Stage: Financing Innovation: Opening the Day
- 14:15–14:50Main Stage: After the Deal: What Makes a Water Asset Perform Once It’s Financed
- 14:15–14:55Industry Stage: Co-Investment and Compliance: Navigating the New Industrial Regulations
- 14:55–15:30Main Stage: Risk That Doesn't Transfer: What PPP Contracts Look Like When Conditions Change
- 15:00–15:40Industry Stage: Pricing Water Risk Across Industrial Valuations
- 15:45–16:10Main Stage: From Pilot to Commercial: Accelerating Water Technology Deployment
- 16:15–16:55Main Stage: Crossing the Valley: Building the Pathway from Innovation to Commercial Scale
- 16:50–17:10Industry Stage: The Shadow Price of Water: A Boardroom Advance
- 10:45–11:15Main Stage: Who Owns Water Data? The Governance Vacuum at the Heart of Digital Transformation
- 11:20–11:40Main Stage: Water Quality at the Frontier: Designing Treatment Systems for the Contaminants of Tomorrow
- 11:55–12:15Main Stage: The Invisible Emitter: Water's Net Zero Reckoning
- 12:20–12:50Main Stage: Water Knowledge Diplomacy
- 12:55–13:25Main Stage: Water and National Competitiveness: The Race for Growth in a Resource-Constrained World
- 14:00–14:40Main Stage: The Intelligent Utility: AI, Predictive Analytics and the Digital Future of Water Operations
- 14:00–14:40Industry Stage: Turning Waste Streams into Resources
- 14:45–14:55Industry Stage: Water Scarcity as Competitive Advantage
- 14:55–15:25Main Stage: Desalination's Next Chapter: What Comes After Conventional RO?
- 14:55–15:25Industry Stage: When Less Water Becomes a Better Business
- 15:30–16:10Industry Stage: Supply Chains Under Water Stress: Managing Upstream Exposure
- 15:40–16:10Main Stage: Securing the Digital Utility: OT/IT Convergence and Cyber Resilience in Water Infrastructure
- 16:15–17:00Industry Stage: Real Change: Closing The Adaptation Gap
- 16:25–17:00Main Stage: Closing Keynote + Panel — What Does a Water-Positive Economy Look Like?
