Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival 2020 aims to go global

The Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival has announced it will return in summer 2020 with its sights set on attracting an even more global audience.

The annual event, which began in 2017, sees experts from many sectors come together in an effort to create innovative solutions to the biggest issues facing the environment and society, such as flooding and social inclusion.

The 2020 edition of the festival is aiming for an even greater global reach, with attendees from the North East participating in sprints, hacks, and challenges alongside teams from countries as far away as America and Australia.

This new initiative will see teams from overseas continuing to collaborate beyond the festival closing hours in the UK in an effort to get as much out of the event as possible.

Nigel Watson, Northumbrian Water’s information services director, said: “We’re very excited to officially announce that our incredible Innovation Festival will return for 2020 and this time we’re taking it to another level…literally.

“It’s big, it’s ambitious and it’s the first time something like this has ever been done by a water company and we’re incredibly proud and excited to be leading the way.

“We’ve been really lucky to have attendees from international companies join us at the event in Newcastle over previous years, and we expect lots of them back for 2020, however the interest and attention the festival has gained from organisations worldwide meant that we had to look at how we could make it bigger and better.

“By offering organisations and innovators in America and Australia the chance to continue our hard work overnight, once our Festival days are finished here in the UK, then we’re able to open up our ideas and innovations to the whole world.”

The Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival 2020 will take place from Monday 6 July to Friday 10 July at Newcastle Racecourse.