Topic of the Month
A Global Festival of Innovative Technologies
CES 2025
CES 2025 is a global tech festival where industry trends are identified and showcased. At CES 2025 held under the theme “Dive In,” K-water presented new standards for the water industry by unveiling its innovative technology. Here are some of the highlights of CES 2025 and K-water’s pavilion that got people from around the world immersed in the latest water technology.
📝Text by. Editorial Team. / 📷Photos. K-water
Leading global technologies at a glance
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 took place in Las Vegas, US for 10 days starting January 7, 2025. Launched in 1967 as an electronic appliances expo, CES has grown as the world’s No. 1 tech event that defines the latest ICT trends and innovative technology. The global clout of the world tech expo is increasing further as it serves as a major channel for corporate PR activities and overseas sales where the latest technologies are unveiled. Consequently, a growing number of countries are participating in the global event. According to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), more than 141,000 people and over 4,500 companies attended this year's CES. More than 1,000 Korean businesses—the largest number ever—joined the event.
K-water : a major force that shapes the future of the world’s water industry
Opened on January 9, K-water’s pavilion was in the spotlight as people attending CES 2025 from countries around the world flocked to it. This is K-water’s third visit to the world’s most powerful tech event. The Forum on the Water Industry’s Future Vision that took place at K-water’s pavilion provided an opportunity for visitors to share ideas on the global water industry. In addition, K-water presented the pillar technologies necessary for the future water security in the era of climate crisis and actively sought to expand cooperation with other countries around the world. K-water presented its three major super-gap technologies as the standards for future water management—digital twin water management platform, AI water purification plant, and smart waterpipe management network (SWNM)—drawing keen interest from the participants.
Moreover, K-water led 19 other Korean water industry startups in joining the global expo in order to help boost the global profile of Korea’s water industry. With 12 of the startups locally based, the participation as a team marks a significant step forward in the sense that locally-based businesses secured an opportunity to grow and broaden their sales channel beyond Korea.
K-Water Technology Emerges as the World’s Leader
Some 9,500 foreign investors and officials from research institutes visited K-water’s pavilion, which was open for 4 days. These visits resulted in a total of over 800 export and investment meetings worth approximately USD 35 million or KRW 51.0 billion, talks on local demonstrations of products and technologies as well as technological cooperation, and signing of 5 MOUs. Furthermore, three of the Korean startups that attended the expo won in the CES Innovation Awards, attesting to Korea’s superior water technology including water treatment processes. The award winners are: INOSEP, which developed PUREMIRR-IAAK, an implantable-attachable artificial kidney using the membrane-filtering technology for water treatment; Fawoo Nanotech, which developed the world’s first mass nanobubble-generating device for industrial uses; and FUST Lab, which owns the technology to degrade PFCs, a non-biodegradable material. K-water is serving as chaperone at CES and other various global events to help Korean water companies access and make inroads into the global water market, which has high entry barriers. The cumulative amount of exports by Korean water companies under K-water’s sponsorship reached KRW 231.5 billion at the end of 2024. Going forward, K-water plans to dedicate itself to promoting Korea’s water technology and sharpening its global competitive edge as the water technology leader that revolutionizes the water industry at home and abroad.
