Judges Announcement: Breakthrough 4

Ofwat is proud to announce an esteemed panel of judges for the Water Breakthrough Challenge 4. Their combined expertise will help to inform Ofwat’s decision on which entries should progress to the next stage of the challenge.

The fourth instalment of the Water Breakthrough Challenge (‘Breakthrough 4’) will award around £40 million to accelerate development and scale implementation of the most promising innovations. The teams competing in this competition consist of bright minds who must be developing their project as part of or in collaboration with a water company (including NAVs) in England or Wales.

In Breakthrough 4, Ofwat seeks even bigger and bolder ideas, with a focus on generating and sharing knowledge, and accelerated rolling out of successful innovations. Designed to unleash further waves of innovation across the water sector, the challenge aims to deliver further transformative benefits for customers, society and the environment through tackling challenging issues faced by the water sector of England and Wales. 

Learn what we’ve achieved so far

The judging panel is comprised of nine experts in a wide range of sectors and disciplines, from open data to sustainability. They have a wealth of experience across industry, academia, policy development and research, consumer representation and engineering, bringing insights from both within and outside the sector.

The Water Breakthrough 4 Judging Panel:

• Lisa Allen – Director of Data and Services, Open Data Institute 
• Andy Blackhall – Managing Director, WRc Wales 
• Jon Brigg – Director, Stoic Options
• Jane Davidson – Pro Vice-Chancellor, Emeritus at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David
• Suresh Nar – Client Delivery Director – Energy & Utilities, Illuminet
• Nikita Perevalov – Senior Policy Officer – Water, RSPB
• Niki Roach – Director and Co-Founder, AxiaOrigin 
• Rachel Skinner – Executive Director (Transport), WSP Global and President, Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Chair 
• Lila Thompson – Chief Executive, British Water 

Learn more about the judges

Led by the water regulator Ofwat, the Water Breakthrough Challenge 4 is being run in partnership with Challenge Works, Arup and Isle Utilities. The successful teams from the Catalyst and Transform streams will be announced in the Spring of 2024.

The Ofwat Innovation Fund is concurrently running the Water Discovery Challenge, which has also just announced its panel of judges. This challenge differs from the Water Breakthrough Challenge as it provides the opportunity for more diverse and ‘grassroots’ innovation teams to participate, without the necessity to have a background in or collaborate directly with a water company.