IWHR President Dr. Peng Jing delivered a keynote speech at the Conference on China’s Future Water Security, which was held by the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing on April 20.

The speech, titled “Digital Intelligence Empowering Water Security in Chinese-style Modernization,” discussed new challenges to global water security and the need for intelligence empowerment through digital twinning. Practices of IWHR in digital twins for water and insights from China into international cooperation in digitalization were also presented.

Building a community with a shared future for mankind faces numerous water security challenges, with digital technology being essential for addressing these new challenges, emphasized Dr. Peng. She illustrated the concept and journey of digital twinning development as one of the six paths to achieve the high-quality development of China’s water sector in its new stage. She also showcased IWHR’s “Sky-” proprietary model system and practical applications of digital twinning technologies, such as in the Dawen River Basin, the South-to-North Water Diversion Network, the Wanjiazhai Project, and the Pi-Shi-Hang Irrigation District in Anhui Province in central China.

China is willing to share its ideas and practices in digital twinning with the international community, said Dr. Peng. She called for active international cooperation to tackle water challenges and ensure global water security.

This Forum, themed “China’s Future Water Security,” convened around 100 delegates from China and abroad. Experts probed into water resources management, digital twinning, national water networks, climate change, water rights reform, water ecology protection, groundwater management, extreme weather events, environmental governance, ecological flows, etc., to bolster global water security and fuel the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.