WATER-LINK OV

Their core work

WATER-LINK OV is a public water utility operating in the Antwerp region of Belgium, managing water distribution infrastructure for urban and industrial users. In EU research, they participate as an operational end-user partner — contributing real water networks as pilot sites for digital innovations rather than developing technology themselves. Their H2020 involvement spans two distinct but related areas: digital and circular water management for process industries (AquaSPICE) and cybersecurity resilience of water networks as critical infrastructure (PRECINCT). This makes them a rare institutional combination: an operational water authority with active engagement in both water technology and infrastructure security research.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

WATER-LINK's early H2020 participation (2020, AquaSPICE) was centered on operational digital water management — real-time monitoring, cyber-physical systems, and circular water flows between industrial users. By 2021, their second project (PRECINCT) expanded their profile into cybersecurity and operator resilience training, including serious games for preparing staff against cyber-physical infrastructure attacks. The consistent appearance of digital twins across both phases signals a deepening institutional commitment to virtual-physical integration of water networks, regardless of whether the application domain is efficiency or security.

WATER-LINK is positioning itself as an operational reference site for both digital water innovation and cyber-resilience solutions, making them increasingly relevant to consortia building at the intersection of water technology and infrastructure security.

How they like to work

WATER-LINK participates exclusively as a consortium member — they have never led an H2020 project. With 73 unique partners across 18 countries from just two projects, they clearly join very large Innovation Actions rather than small focused research clusters. This pattern is characteristic of a public utility acting as an end-user and real-world testbed: highly valuable to consortia needing operational validation, but dependent on technical and academic partners to lead the research agenda and manage the project.

Despite only two projects, WATER-LINK has engaged with 73 unique partners across 18 countries — a disproportionately wide reach that reflects participation in very large, pan-European Innovation Actions. Their collaborative footprint is primarily European with no indication of a tight geographic sub-cluster.

What sets them apart

WATER-LINK is one of very few public water utilities in the H2020 program that bridges both digital water innovation and critical infrastructure security within the same institutional profile. As an actual water network operator in a major Belgian city, they offer something most research partners cannot: a live operational testbed with real systems, real users, and real operational consequences. For consortia seeking to move beyond lab-scale validation into real-world demonstration, their participation provides immediate credibility with both regulators and end-user communities.

Highlights from their portfolio

• AquaSPICE
  Their largest and longest-running project (2020-2025, EUR 226,414), combining digital water cyber-physical systems with circular economy principles specifically for process industries — a technically ambitious scope for a public utility partner.
• PRECINCT
  Brings WATER-LINK into critical infrastructure security research, applying digital twin expertise to cyber-physical threat preparedness — a cross-sector move that significantly broadens their collaboration potential.