Northumbrian's innovation event draws "record" attendance

Northumbrian Water's fifth annual Innovation Festival ended last week with a record turnout of close to 4,000 participants from more than 40 countries according to the company.

The festival's accelerated development of innovative ideas through four days' of design sprints and hacks was carried out using online and face-to-face meetings. It brought together innovators virtually from outside the UK including Australia, Zimbabwe, India, America, Greece, Poland and China said Northumbrian, while others gathered at the hub venue in Newcastle's Common Room.

Among the issues tackled during the event were asset management, digitising wastewater, achieving net zero carbon and workforce wellbeing and skills. “Now that the festival is over, the hard work is about to begin, as our sprints now start to develop their ideas into real-world projects which are set to make an impact on our customers in the future," said Northumbrian's head of innovation, Angela MacOscar (pictured).