On July 2, K-water, along with 18 other organizations in Daejeon, including the city of Daejeon and Chungnam National University, held the 1st Daejeon Innovation Forum. The representatives of the participating organizations explored the direction of Daejeon’s innovation as it strives to be a leading global hub of high-tech industries and reached a consensus over the need to build a close cooperation network, and thus raise the city’s competitiveness. K-water, which is responsible for developing and implementing water-focused tasks for shared growth with the local community, discussed issues related to demonstration programs for innovative water management technology to make Daejeon a leading global hub of water industry and the creation of Daejeon Digital Water Industry Valley, among others.

To this end, K-water is strengthening strategic cooperation with the city of Daejeon, academia and industry in an effort to help Daejeon build a water-specialized global innovative corporate ecosystem. On July 16, the Daejeon-based Official Development Assistance Project Alliance was launched to support the overseas expansion of innovative water companies with competitive technology operating mainly in Daejeon, through strong research and science infrastructure. Under the ODA project, Daejeon and K-water will support the demonstration and commercialization of technologies developed by companies operating in Daejeon. Going forward, K-water will continue to proactively address its assigned tasks in the era of local autonomy and lead the way in promoting Daejeon’s sustainable growth.