In photo: People line up with their containers to get water supply from the water delivery during a water interruption in Quezon City (Photo file/THEPHILBIZNEWS)
By Alithea De Jesus
The prevalence of water supply interruption and scarcity remains a big issue in the country even in the metropolis. Banking on the supply from the rivers, lakes, river basins, and water reservoirs, the growing population contribute to the problem of supply, especially during summer season wherein the country’s dams water levels reached a critical level.
Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) recently unveiled “Water for Life,” the next act in its “The Only Progress is Human” campaign to increase awareness of societal and environmental challenges and inspire the use of virtual worlds to drive sustainable innovations. “Water for Life” combines the themes of water and consumption to explore the challenge of how the industry can consume smarter and protect the world’s most precious resource, which is threatened by overconsumption. The campaign is part of the company’s commitment to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 6 to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Asian Water Development Outlook 2020 report shows that the Philippines is among the top performers in environmental water security. However, the country’s continuously growing population, particularly in urban areas, has increases the risks of water shortage. In fact, according to the Philippine Eco-Efficient Water Infrastructure (EEWIN) Strategic Roadmap by the United Nations ESCAP (UNESCAP) in 2013, population plays a large role in the availability or scarcity of the water supply, with recurring atmospheric phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña also affecting local freshwater sources.
Through “Water for Life,” Dassault Systèmes helps its customers address this challenge from three angles: measure and optimize, innovate and create, and educate. First, it will drive the 3DEXPERIENCE platform as an accelerator for measuring and optimizing the water footprint of businesses by providing customers with integrated industry solutions that deliver data on the water consumption associated with the experience they are creating and the impacts of various design options. In the future, AI-generated recommendations will guide them toward the creation of new and more sustainable products, services and experiences.
Dassault Systèmes will also support the idea of a water handprint through its 3DEXPERIENCE Lab. This will be achieved by using collective intelligence to accelerate disruptive innovations such as EEL Energy that transform processes in industries needing to reduce their water consumption, as well as by reinforcing this engagement with a partnership of incubators worldwide such as OceanHub Africa.
Lastly, it will nurture educational programs that aim to increase awareness of major water-related issues and inspire future generations to conserve this key resource, such as the Mission Ocean project in France that is supported by La Fondation Dassault Systèmes.
“The world is recognizing the urgency of preserving water and moving toward a new era of responsibility and sustainability. Industry has its role to play in this ‘UN Decade to Deliver,’” said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “Virtual universes are a key enabler for our customers to imagine, design, and test the radically new products, materials and manufacturing processes needed in tomorrow’s more sustainable economy. Through new industry solutions, we can become the world’s number one partner for a more sustainable industry renaissance that meets Paris Agreement goals.”
Water is vital to life, yet overconsumption of water to produce the goods and services the world uses every day jeopardizes its availability. Already, more than 40% of the world’s population is affected by water scarcity. In line with its Sustainable Development Goals, the UN declared a Water Action Decade from 2018-2028 focused on the sustainable development and integrated management of water. “Water for Life” aligns with this movement as well as the company’s recent commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative, and its role as Official Supporter of the TCFD (Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures).
“Water for Life” was officially launched in a video featuring Bernard Charlès alongside the professional explorer and adventurer Mike Horn, who share the same passion for water conservation.
“As a professional explorer, I witnessed firsthand how human activities directly impacted the state of our Earth. It is crucial for humans to take care of it, and more importantly in preserving water, our most precious resource,” said Mike Horn. “I am happy that not only the UN, NGOs and politicians meet this goal but also that industrial leaders like Bernard Charlès, CEO of Dassault Systèmes stress the importance of this key topic.”
Launched in February 2020, “The Only Progress is Human” is a communications campaign that aims to increase awareness of today’s societal and environmental challenges, and inspire people to use the virtual world to gain deeper insights into these challenges and drive sustainable innovations for a better future. The initiative is engaging the public through a series of “10 Acts” that illustrate how virtual twin experiences can be used to create human-centric and real-world experiences that address each Act’s challenge. The first Act focused on the challenge, “How can virtual worlds change the way we experience emotions?” through a unique musical and visual experience called “Virtual Harmony” that featured the 3Dvarius, the first 3D-printed electric violin, which was designed using Dassault Systèmes’ solutions.