DETAILS
Dates: November 10-11, 2025
Location: Dockside, Cockle Bay, Sydney, Australia
Theme: “The Digital Utility Tipping Point: Aligning People, Technology and Policy”
Organiser: SWAN Asia-Pacific Alliance
Lead Utility Partner: Sydney Water
Sponsors: View Here
Attendee Organisations: View Here
Access: View all underlined presentations and photos below.
HIGHLIGHTS
PROGRAMME
10 November, 2025 (Day 1)
8:00–9:00 AM Registration and Coffee
9:00–9:10 AM Welcome and Introduction
- Emcee: Craig Earl, Head of Operational Technology (Sydney Water)
9:10–9:20 AM Welcome to Country
- Aunty Jean
9:20–9:40 AM Opening Keynote
- Dean Page, Executive General Manager, Finance Commercial and Digital (Sydney Water) – View Bio
9:40–10:30 AM The Tipping Point Is Human, Not Digital
Moderator: Jenny Francis, Executive Manager, Digital (Hunter Water) & SWAN APAC Chair
- Martine Watson, Chief Digital & Information Officer (Urban Utilities)
- Tony Pollock, Chief Information Officer (Icon Water)
- Sridhar Pydipati, Head of Digital & Chief Information Officer (Sydney Water)
10:30–11:00 AM Coffee and Networking Break
11:00–11:45 AM ProCUREment: Healing the RFP and Service Delivery Process
Moderator: Wayne Pales, GM Digital Business (Barwon Water)
- Emily Tonacia, Director Corporate Services (Riverina Water)
- Brendan Guiney, Executive Officer (Water Directorate) & Clarissa Phillips, Digital Deliver Technical Director Water ANZ (Jacobs) “Aligning People, Technology, and Policy to Address Risk Beyond Infrastructure”
- Campbell Scott, Smart Networks PO (Watercare), “A Strategic Leap through RFI and RFP Innovation”
11:45–12:05 PM SWAN Update & Awards + SWAN Smart Metering Playbook
- Zolboo Dashmyagmar, Asia-Pacific Lead (SWAN Forum) & Rod Naylor, Global Water Lead (GHD)
12:05–1:00 PM Lunch Sponsored by Autodesk
1:00–2:00 PM Interactive Roundtable Session – “Tipping Point” Strategies
Click on the full YouTube link below to jump to a specific recap.
Attracting the NextGen Workforce: When do incentives inspire the next generation to join and thrive in water utilities?
Led by Laura Chan, Associate Vice President (LVI Associates) and Michael Storey, Managing Director – Asia-Pacific (Isle Utilities)
Digital Twin Readiness: When is a utility truly ready to build and benefit from a digital twin? Led by Ash Heslop, Product Lead (Barwon Water) and Asem Zabin, Digital Solutions Lead (GHD)
Achieving Energy Efficiency Targets: When do decarbonisation goals shift from compliance to a digital strategic priority? Led by Cyril Murtagh, Manager Energy & SCADA (Hunter Water) and Bradley Yager, Solution Consultant Team Leader (Schneider Electric)
Securing Your Operations: When does security stop being a burden and become an innovation enabler? Led by Julio Del Cid, Senior OT/IoT Cyber Security Consultant (DelCorp Data) and Frank Zeichner, CEO (IoT Alliance Australia)
Building Frontline Change Management: When do frontline workers move from reluctant tech adopters to digital champions? Led by Juan Londono, OT Product Development Manager (South East Water) and Joan Carles Guardiola, Business Development Manager (Xylem Vue)
Learning from Project Failures: How can internal failures accelerate innovation vs set it back? Led by Len McKelvey CEO (TracWater) and Andrea Thayer, Commercial Support Advisor (Mackay Regional Council)
Streamlining Smart Metering: When does the value cross its threshold? Led by Nish Dogra, Project Manager, Smart Metering (Sydney Water), Julia Mehr, Manager Digital Utility (TasWater) and Rod Naylor, Global Water Lead (GHD)
Gaining Customer Trust: When does trust become the multiplier that builds vs. detracts from a utility’s reputation?
Led by Matthew Hingston, Executive Manager Customer Services (Hunter Water) and Jason Perera, APAC Commercial Director: Customer Value & Transformations (Gentrack)
Unlocking the AI Advantage: When Does Predictive Intelligence Become Operational Reality? Led by Dr. Mohammad Mortazavi-Naeini, Principal Water Analyst, Urban Water Strategy, Policy & Programs (NSW DCCEEW) and Neville Richardson, Executive Counselor (Info‑Tech Research Group)
Maintaining Critical Assets: When do assets stop being liabilities and become proactively managed and predicted? Led by Vineeth Marauvada, Manager Growth Intelligence (SA Water) and Jason Lancelot, Senior Manager (InEight)
2:00–2:30 PM Roundtable Rapid Fire Recap
Moderator: Amanda Siqueira, CEO & Co-Founder (VAPAR)
- David Moore, Smart Systems Manager (Watercare) “The Beginning of Watercare’s Smart Wastewater Journey”
- Ebi Hussain, Chief Scientist (AquaWatch Solutions) “Scaling Visual AI for Discharge Detection & Stormwater Compliance in Auckland”
- Stefan Paul Szylkarski, Executive Vice President (DHI Water & Environment) “A Science-Based Platform to Make Investment Decisions for Environmental Improvement”
3:15–3:40 PM Coffee and Networking Break
3:40–4:35 PM The Hype, Hope, and Hard Reality of Smart Metering
Moderator: David Peters, CEO (Taggle)
- Mark Williams, Managing Director (Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water)
- Dan Sullivan, General Manager Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (South East Water) “South East Water’s Digital Metering Success”
- Raghu Bharadwaj, Senior Technical Lead (Velocity Partners) & Glenn Wilson, Manager Strategy & Partnerships – Water (PLUS ES) “Smart Rollouts, Smarter Utilities: A Pragmatic Case Study”
- Hadis Zare, Asset Program Advisor (Water Services Association of Australia) “Digital Meter State of Play Report 2023”
Moderator: Aron Calfas, Head of Digital Risk and Assurance (Sydney Water)
- Oras Abbas, Network Operations Modelling Engineer (SA Water) “Empowering SA Water’s Operations through Network Modelling”
- Arvin Seevaunnamtum, Delivery Lead Operational Technology (Water Corporation) & Shohin Aheleroff, Project Manager (SUEZ) “Golden Pipeline: A Case Study of AI and Digital Twin Implementation in Western Australia”
- Mudasser Iqbal, Founder and CEO (TeamSolve) “GenAI in Action: Real World Insights from Supporting Pump Station Operations at Wannon Water”
5:25–5:30 PM Workshop Summary
- Emcee: Craig Earl, Head of Operational Technology (Sydney Water)
5:30–6:30 PM Networking Reception Sponsored by StormHarvester
11 November, 2025 (Day 2)
8:00 AM–3:15 PM Sydney Water Site Tour (sponsored by Sydney Water)
- 8:00 AM Depart from Dockside (workshop venue)
- 9:30–10:30 AM Water Resource Recycling Facility Tour
- 10:30-12:30 PM Purified Recycled Water Discovery Centre Tour
- 12:30–1:00 PM Travel to The Fiddler restaurant
- 1:00–2:00 PM Lunch
- 2:00–3:15 PM Return to Dockside
Photos
Thank You to Our Sponsors
