(Photo: Huong Le/TITC)

The Smart Water Innovation Contest 2016 was co-organized by the Embassy of Sweden and the Department of Water Resource Management (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) in cooperation with the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and some Swedish companies in Viet Nam.

Launched since 18 January, the contest inspired the Vietnamese young to find solutions to challenges of water resources in Viet Nam. The winner team, including 3 students Trinh Quoc Anh, Nguyen Tran Quang Khai, Vo Phi Long, comes from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology with the idea of using smart phone applications to detect leaks in the water supply system. The winner will get a trip to Sweden and attend the World Water Week 2016 in Stockholm Capital in August.

In her speech at the ceremony, Ms. Camilla Mellander, Ambassador of Sweden to Viet Nam, emphasized that water resource management is very vital in modern society. In recent years, water-related natural disasters in different forms have caused negative impacts on human living around the world, including Viet Nam. These impacts will be intensified due to global warming. Innovative solutions are of essential meaning to ensure sustainable access to clean water.

The ambassador also informed that Sweden has been one of the leading countries in the world in area of environmental protection and has always encouraged the innovation. Smart Water Innovation Contest is a part of FirstGeneration campaign - an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden in order to increase participation, improve communication and popularize sustainable development goals of the United Nations.

According the organization board, the contest attracted the attention of many young people across the country, with innovative ideas such as water purification and desalination in Mekong Delta, water filtration and storage by materials made from cactus, using smart phone applications to detect leaks in the water supply system…