On May 27th, the 15th International Conference on Hydroinformatics (HIC2024) opened in Beijing. With the theme "From Nature to Digital Water Management: Challenges and Opportunities," this conference features subtopics such as "Integrated Monitoring from Sky to Earth," "Big Data Acquisition and Management," "Digital Twin Applications in Various Scenarios," and "Climate Change and Adaptation." The aim is to promote the development and practical application of water information technology. Nearly 500 representatives from government departments, universities, research institutions, international organizations, and water-related enterprises from 34 countries and regions are in attendance.
The opening ceremony scene provided by the organizer
Deputy Minister Wang Daoxi of the Ministry of Water Resources stated in his opening speech that focusing closely on promoting high-quality development of water resources and enhancing the national water security capability, digital twin water resources are regarded as a key driver for nurturing and leading new productive forces in water resources, a significant symbol for promoting high-quality water resources development, and one of the six implementation paths. Following the requirements of "demand-driven, application-oriented, digitally empowered, capacity-enhancing," efforts are being made to advance the integrated monitoring and perception system of "sky and ground," construct a three-line defense system for water and rain monitoring and forecasting composed of meteorological satellites, rain-measuring radars, rainfall stations, and hydrological stations, enrich data, optimize algorithms, enhance computing power, and digitally map, intelligently simulate, and prospectively simulate the entire process of basin, water network, water conservancy projects, and water management.
The current conference is jointly organized by the Ministry of Water Resources, the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR), and the International Water Association (IWA), with the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research taking the lead in hosting. The conference will release the "Beijing Initiative for Digital Twin Water Resources," calling for enhanced cooperation among global participants in digital twin water resources to jointly promote the construction, application, and dissemination of digital twin water resources to address the significant challenges of global water security under the backdrop of climate change.
During the conference, there will be an exhibition of the "China Digital Twin Water Resources Achievements" and technical exhibitions from 18 units including China Three Gorges Corporation, China Institute of Water Resources, and China Energy Construction Group East China Survey and Design Institute, showcasing China's technological achievements and successful practices in the fields of digital twin basins, digital twin water networks, and digital twin engineering, contributing Chinese wisdom to global digital twin water resources.
It is understood that the International Conference on Water Information is a series of international academic conferences initiated by the Joint Committee on Water Informatics established by the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research and the International Water Association. It is held every two years on a rotating basis on different continents. Since its successful first session in the Netherlands in 1994, it has been held 14 times, becoming an important regular exchange mechanism in the field of international water informatics.
