cewas is an “international center for water management services”. As an international competence center for water management, cewas offers various access points: qualified specialists find professional support in establishing their businesses and existing technology or service providers can network with the cewas start-ups, participate in them and thus open up new markets. Investors can reduce their risks by having potential “investment recipients” supported by cewas;governmental and non-governmental organizations can train their employees at cewas and prepare them for new collaborations with the private sector.This project guarantees an inclusive and sustainable society.According to the "think global, act local"-principle, local value creation is promoted in order to develop market-oriented offers for the national and international demand for sustainable solutions in the water management sector. For cewas, the Lucerne West region offers interesting location factors, such as low-cost office spaces, low corporate taxes, and attractive living and leisure options for those involved in the start-ups.The cewas start-up program is unique in that it combines the provision of work infrastructure with thematic course modules and the personal support of the start-ups by renowned water experts. These not only provide their experience and knowledge from science and practice, but also secure the strategic and market-oriented development of start-up business ideas. Bringing together international teams (north-south partnerships) allows the KMU’s to benefit from the Swiss state of the art and science on the one hand and to act quickly in the target countries on the other. The individual course modules of the cewas training program are also open to individuals or organizations who benefit from this platform and can position themselves in the international water management market. Co-operations between cewas start-ups and existing companies in the water sector as well as university institutes in the inland and abroad are also supported.

The municipality of Ried-Brig did not have any water meters, consumption was not billed at tax points based on consumption. After a referendum at the end of 2017, the commissioning of electronic water meters could start. The electronic water meters were installed together with so-called smart meters - electricity meters that collect all consumption data and send it to the control center - in practically all households in the community. The advantage is that consumption can be recorded depending on consumption, no more meters have to be read in the households, the households only receive a bill for water, electricity, gas etc. from the electricity distributor and thus the municipal administration is relieved of reading and billing . The municipality of Fieschertal would like to follow the example of Ried Brig and has already prepared a technical roll out with the regional electricity distributor EW Goms. Electronic water meters and smart meters are to be installed there in 2021/2022.

Fostering sustainable development in agriculture, using IoT.

The Lower Austrian Photovoltaic-League highlights the most successful communities in terms of increasing their installed PV capacity. The competition takes place once a year and even small communities have the chance to capture the trophy.In order to balance the chances between small and large communities, the target figure is defined by the yearly gains in installed PV capacity per capita. The champions of each district have the possibility to take part in an award ceremony where they receive their trophies. The most successful district champion will be declared state champion.The requirement for a comprehensive data set is the cooperation with power utilities that report the installed PV capacity in their power grids once a year. The communities have the chance to benefit from dissemination activities like regional press releases and online activities. In 2017 the Lower Austrian Photovoltaics-League was carried out for the sixth time. All Information can be obtained via www.pv-liga.at (Website in German)Highlight of the project: Award ceremony with district-champions that receive the trophy.