"For those young professionals looking to pursue a career in water and wastewater, I would tell them that there is no better way to make a real difference, locally and globally, than working in this industry. There are still challenges to be solved, solutions to be discovered and, more than anything, there are still millions of people that can benefit from their drive, passion, and innovation.”
This quote from Manuel Parra, Vice President of Practice Management at Xylem and featured on our cover, is my favourite in this fifth issue of Smart Water Magazine Monthly. And I think it's something we should all emphasize. At a time of great social, economic and technological change, it is essential for our sector to be able to attract young talent who can contribute new ideas to solving the enormous challenges of the coming years.
This historic 2020 will be remembered as a turning point in which we became aware of our vulnerability as a species, but also of our resilience and capacity to respond to an adverse situation
This historic 2020 will be remembered as a turning point in which we became aware of our vulnerability as a species, but also of our resilience and capacity to respond to an adverse situation. In this, the water industry has been exemplary: keeping the services of billions of clients without any notable incidents, applying technology to manage assets remotely and collecting data that has allowed better decisions to be made, or opening up new niches such as epidemiological surveillance through wastewater. If we add to these milestones the adaptation and mitigation of climate change, the transition to a circular economy and the progress to achieve the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals, we complete a very attractive roadmap for young people who are currently considering their professional future.
These young people are also one of the most loyal audiences for our publication, which with this issue closes a year of explosive growth in which we have been able to multiply our reach in the five continents and consolidate Smart Water Magazine as one of the reference brands for the water community. I would like to thank all those who have contributed in one way or another to this success: advertisers, writers, readers and, above all, the exceptional team that makes this product possible. What we have achieved in this 2020 has reaffirmed our conviction that we are on the right path to lead the way in water information on a global scale. In 2021 we will continue to inform how you are all helping to change the world.