Interoperability: the key for smart water management

The integration of water processes with information and communication technologies systems offers huge opportunities in terms of efficiency gains, improved security, and overall sustainability. However, as this new field of water management -often denoted as 'Smart Water Network' (SWN) - is evolving, there are many different vendors, technologies and business models in the market. This diversity overwhelms utilities and leads to excessive piloting of smart solutions, rather than to a general adoption. In order to exploit the full potential of these SWN solutions, standardized components guaranteeing interoperability and clearly defined interfaces as well as proper guidelines for implementing such solutions are needed. We will give a general overview of a SWN, the involved technological components, its interactions, and missing elements that are needed for an interoperable solution. We finish our contribution with a brief description of a structured process for planning SWN architectures.