PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, has initiated the fourth iteration of its Global Innovation Challenge (GIC) to source creative and intelligent solutions for enhancing the resilience and sustainability of the country’s water infrastructure. The application deadline is 12 Apr 2024.
Successful proposals will be granted pilot funding of up to S$250,000, access to real-world test sites within PUB facilities, and the chance to collaborate with and receive guidance from internal engineers and water experts. This year’s focus is on addressing operational hurdles in PUB’s used water reclamation process.
Among the challenge statements, two will concentrate on solutions for inspecting and evaluating the condition of tunnels in the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS) and the underground pumping mains that transport used water to PUB’s water reclamation plants (WRPs) for processing.
The third statement will investigate the application of robotic systems to clean process tanks at PUB WRPs, aiming to eliminate manual labor and the associated safety risks of human entry for cleaning tasks.
To engage more technology providers, PUB has teamed up with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to utilize its Open Innovation Platform (OIP), connecting with a global network of 13,000 solution providers spanning various innovation domains.
Since its inception in 2020, PUB has presented a total of 14 challenge statements across the previous three GIC editions, drawing global interest with over 190 submissions from 20+ countries. Two winning proposals from the second GIC edition are currently being evaluated for potential implementation by PUB.
One of the winners from the third cycle is CityBot Technology, a commercial robotics company based in Singapore, which is developing a modular robotics platform for inspecting enclosed public drains. Equipped with sensors and an artificial intelligence (AI) model, this platform aims to identify unique defects and anomalies within Singapore’s drainage system and is scheduled for field trials in April 2024.
Source : PUB, Singapore’s national water agency
