Sydney Water Innovation Festival

SWIF25 is coming... 

SWIF is back this year with a cross-sector focus on Collaboration for Innovation. ​

The most complex challenges of our time require not just groundbreaking or innovative ideas, but also the collective effort of experts from diverse fields. That's why this year, SWIF is bringing together leaders and innovative minds from across industries, utilities, academia, policy makers, and national and global innovators to foster partnerships that ignite change.​

The SWIF25 program is comprised of pre-event activities and a 2 day live event with a mix of ​in-person and interactive online events.

Express your interest here to join our pre-event activities ​and check out how to become a sponsor


About SWIF

The Sydney Water Innovation Festival (SWIF) is a dynamic and engaging gateway to exchange innovative ideas and creative solutions to water-related challenges and beyond. SWIF25 will focus on highlighting our commitment to promoting a culture of innovation by pushing boundaries and engaging national and international innovators to fast-track business improvements and demonstrating industry leadership.

Pre-event: Design Incubators
  • Dates: 1st Oct - 22nd Nov 2024
  • Location: Online and Sydney Water Parramatta HUB

 

Live festival
  • Dates: 4th - 5th March 2025
  • Location: Online and Telstra Customer Insight Centre, Sydney, CBD

 

 

SWIF25 themes

The vision for SWIF25 is to create a safe and inclusive space for all participants to inspire, connect, collaborate, and embrace open innovation around the following themes:

Building an innovative culture 

Human-centric innovation strategies

Generative AI and data for innovation 

Strategic innovation frameworks ​(ideation to deployment) 

Circular economy and overcoming linear constraints

Deployment for success 

Regenerative sustainability and collaboration 

Innovation for the future


Who should join

This event has been created to bring together diverse perspectives from:​

  • Leaders and Executives​

  • Industry, Innovators and Pioneers​

  • Business Development and Financial Professionals​

  • Government and Policy Makers​

  • Young Professionals​

  • Researchers and Academics

Contact us 

If you need more information, please contact us at SWIFConnect@sydneywater.com.au

Pre-event: Design Incubators

Design Incubators are an excellent way to engage participants, stimulate creative thinking, and generate valuable insights and solutions to business challenges. They enable businesses to rapidly prototype and test ideas with real users - which is invaluable for innovation. This method condenses months of work into a short time, making it highly efficient and effective for quickly validating ideas and making informed decisions.​

You may wish to consider sponsoring one of the Design Incubators to immediately secure your spot. For more details, check our sponsorship packages or contact us. ​

If sponsorship isn’t the right fit, you can still be a part of the Design Incubators by joining our waitlist. We’ll reach out as spots open up.

Express your interest here to join our pre-event activities waiting list


Pre-event: Design Incubators
  • Dates: 1st Oct - 22nd Nov 2024
  • Location: Online and Sydney Water Parramatta HUB

 

More about the Design Incubators
  • Delivered over 6 weeks prior to the festival (starting from 1st October 2024) with outcomes being showcased at the live event in March 2025
  • Facilitated workshops (half-day per week) over 6 weeks with participation of cross-industry subject matter experts
  • Focus on universal emerging challenges and complex problems​
  • Cross-pollination of cross-industry knowledge fostering innovative solutions
  • Create tools, resources and outcomes to be used across the businesses
  • Accelerate pilot-orientated projects​
 
Design Incubators challenge statements
  • How might we optimise technology in the customer value chain? 
  • How might we have a tech-led future-ready workforce?​
  • How might we best support our communities in building resilience to drought?​
  • How might we ensure sustainability is a core principle in our designs and processes?​
  • How might we amplify the voices, wisdom and culture of First Nations people in water management?
  • How might we better care for our customers in times of disruption?
  • How might we deliver fast interim servicing options in accelerated growth areas in western Sydney to meet developer demand?
  • How might we attract skilled workforce of the future?
  • How might we ensure that research and innovation effective in solving business problems?
 
Contact us 

If you need more information, please contact us at SWIFConnect@sydneywater.com.au

Live festival

This 2 day live event includes a mix of in-person and interactive online events.

  • Date: 4th - 5th March 2025
  • Location: Online and Telstra Customer Insight Centre, Sydney, CBD

Registrations for the Live Festival will open in early November 2024


Live festival details

Connect to Innovate Executive Summit

The Summit will bring CEOs and Executives from various sectors to exchange knowledge, innovative ideas, and practices to encourage cross-pollination of insight, visions, and strategy to inspire new approaches and solutions that are beneficial across industries.​

Keynote Speakers

To inspire new ways of thinking and approaching innovation.​​

Panel Discussions

Bringing together experts from various industries to share insights, discuss challenges, and explore opportunities for innovation.​​

Inspire and Ignite Sessions

These sessions showcase the journey of innovation projects from idea to deployment, in a structured and comprehensive way so that the audience can learn and emulate successful strategies.​

Design Incubator Showcases

Showcasing the outcomes of the Design Incubator workshops.​

VIP Networking Event

Opportunity to meet like-minded innovators.​

There are a range of opportunities to sponsor the live festival activities. Please check our sponsorship packages.


Contact us 

If you need more information, please contact us at SWIFConnect@sydneywater.com.au