The UK's share of the global water technology market could be worth £8·8bn by 2030, providing 71,000 jobs and involving around 960 small and medium enterprises (SMEs), suggests a new report published today by the UK Water Research & Innovation Partnership (UKWRIP).
The first comprehensive attempt to analyse the UK's current and future performance in the global water technology market, 'HTech0: Tapping the Potential: A Fresh Vision for UK Water Technology' highlights global opportunities worth over $50bn in the next six years alone.
But despite successful water privatisation, world class consultants and a reputation for fair dealing, the UK has just 3% share of the global water technology
market and lags way behind pioneering countries such as France, the US, Japan and Germany.
To meet the report's 2030 vision of a 10% UK share of the global market, the report proposes four essential steps: a strengthened public-private UK Water
Research & Innovation Partnership to provide leadership; a sharper focus on commercial opportunities and customer needs; independent national testing, validation and demonstration facilities and a co-ordinated international marketing strategy.
In the report's foreword, Sir Mark Walport, government chief scientific advisor, comments: "I welcome the 'UK plc' approach to developing this report and the commitment to continuing this approach in the implementation of the findings and actions. This will result in a better alignment of research to market opportunities and valuable economic growth in the water technology sector."
