AI and digitalisation move to the centre of Europe’s water resilience agenda

Digital technologies are set to play an increasingly important role in the future of European water management, a development closely aligned with the research being carried out by the EU-funded PIPEON project.

On 21 September 2026, the European Commission will launch the Water Resilience Stakeholder Platform in Brussels. The initiative will support implementation of the European Water Resilience Strategy and will include a dedicated discussion on the forthcoming Digitalisation Action Plan for the Water Sector.

Earlier this year, the Commission highlighted the potential of technologies including artificial intelligence, IoT, smart sensors and meters to improve infrastructure management, water efficiency and resilience.

These priorities strongly connect with PIPEON. The project is developing autonomous robots capable of navigating sewer networks, advanced sensing technologies for real-time defect detection, AI-based mapping and risk-aware planning, and digital twins to support predictive maintenance.

For sewer utilities, better digital information could help identify deterioration sooner, plan interventions more efficiently and reduce dependence on costly reactive maintenance.

As Europe advances its water digitalisation agenda, projects such as PIPEON demonstrate how research in robotics, AI and sensing can contribute to the transition towards smarter and more resilient wastewater infrastructure.