Judging Panel: Discovery

Lisa is an experienced data professional who has led many teams in the public sector in the UK. Shaping and driving data initiatives to ensure the value of data is unlocked for better outcomes for society, the environment, and the economy.  Lisa spent many years in the environmental sector both in the public sector and the not-for-profit space. At the Open Data Institute, she assisted Ofwat with their H2Open Strategy. At the Environment Agency was part of the team that propelled the UK into the top rankings in the world for implementation and impact of open data. Lisa is chair of DAMA UK, the go to organisation for Data Professionals and works with people across the UK, and the world, to elevate industry standards in the data profession, with the aim of putting it on par with more mature professions like accountancy or medicine.   

Lisa is the Director of Data Services at The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and joined in November 2023 putting data at the heart of TPR to operate efficiently, transparently and to leverage data for the benefit of savers.

With expertise in drinking water quality, applications of models and data analytics for water quality, public health risk, and innovation in urban water systems. She was Managing Director of TWENTY65, the EPSRC Grand Challenge Centre for Water working across the water cycle with 100+ stakeholder partners to develop disruptive solutions to meet future challenges for water. With 30 years of experience in the water industry, she has worked with more than 70 utilities across the US and UK and has been a technical advisor to USEPA on multiple drinking water regulations. Prof Speight has served on numerous advisory panels and committees for AWWA, IWA, Water Research Foundation, Defra, CIWEM, and research funding agencies, is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, and is Deputy Editor of the AWWA Water Science Journal. 

Suhayl is the CEO of Datatecnics – the leading provider of AI-based models to predict water and wastewater main failure, headquartered in Manchester.

After graduating from the University of Leeds, Suhayl founded Datatecnics combining his interests in AI and building a venture to aid global water resilience. Winning a tender and a place on the inaugural United Utilities (UU) Innovation Lab in 2018, a successful pilot led to follow-on contracts with UU and in 2020, Datatecnics became a coveted Imagine H2O accelerator company. Since then, Datatecnics has grown to serve water companies across the UK and mainland Europe.

With seven years of expertise aiding the water sector’s transition to predictive maintenance of assets, Suhayl has grown Datatecnics to a team of 13 multi-disciplinary specialists, built the business’ core technology platform, Foresight, and helped Datatecnics raise £3m along the way.

Tania Flasck has over 30 years experience in the environmental sector and depth of expertise in water having lived and worked in the UK, Asia Pacific and US markets. As an environmental scientist, her formative years were spent commissioning and operating water and wastewater treatment plants progressing into senior levels of programme and project delivery, strategic planning, business development and people leadership roles working with consultancies as well as directly with water provider organisations. She is a huge advocate for diversity and her collaborative as well as inclusive leadership style underpins the success of the teams she has worked with and leads. Tania is currently MD of Water Utilities with ExploreAI, an AI and data solutions company, as well as serving on boards as a Non Exec Director with British Water (representing the interests of the UK water supply chain) and Chair of Waterwise (the leading UK water efficiency NGO). 

Bradley is Senior Investment Manager at Earth Capital Limited. He leads on deal origination, execution and portfolio value creation. Earth Capital invests into growth stage sustainable technology businesses across the themes of Energy, Food and Water. 

Bradley has over 13 years’ experience as an investor across growth stage businesses in the technology sector including the Circular Economy, Cyber Security, Image Processing and B2B SaaS. 

Prior to joining ECL, he was Equity Portfolio Manager at The FSE Group and Corporate Finance Manager at Grant Thornton.  

Bradley has received a Business Management degree from the University of the West of England and a Certificate in Investment Management from the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI). 

Martin is a water industry strategic advisor, asset planner and drainage expert, author of the DWMP-blog.  He has over 40 years of experience working primarily in the water sector in consulting and research roles.  Now semi-retired, he provides strategic advice, asset management planning, expert witness services and drainage and wastewater management planning.  His experience has included innovations in; active system control, the use of 2d flow modelling, calculating the value of flood risk from model results, development of long term Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans and development of asset management plans for water and wastewater treatment and pumping assets

Akintunde Babatunde (Akin) is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds. He is also a member of water@leeds. Akin is a Chartered Engineer with core expertise in systems and processes for sustainable, smart and resilient water systems from cloud to coast. He is also a specialist in the design of frameworks for water quality and pollution control at various scales; and the engineering design of bespoke water systems.Akin has collaborated widely with water companies in Ireland and the UK. In 2009, he was awarded the Green Talent award for outstanding young professionals in environmental engineering by the German Federal Minister of Education. In 2010, he received the Irish Research Council and EU-Marie Curie Joint Postdoctoral Fellowship award. In 2012; he was selected as a Welsh Crucible. Akin has published widely and authored > 100 publications. He has secured competitive research grants (both as PI and co-I). He is a regular reviewer for a number of funding bodies, as well as academic and practice journals. He has extensive contacts and on-going engagements with the global water industry and community; and this is crucial for understanding needs and developing solutions. Akin received his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University College Dublin, Ireland in Nov 2007. He had brief industry working experience before starting his PhD studies. His PhD research led to the design and deployment of a novel engineered wetland system with enhanced aeration capacity for high-strength wastewater treatment – the deployment was supported by the Irish EPA and Enterprise Ireland.

Suresh is a Consulting Leader with a c.18-year strong track-record in leading strategy, digital and business transformation across the water and wider utilities sector, with advisory up to Board level. Suresh has worked at several major consultancies such as Accenture and more recently as Head of Water at Capita, working with or for over a dozen major UK and global energy and utilities organisations, including the likes of Thames Water, Southern Water and Anglian Water. Suresh is passionate about using technology and innovation to drive sustainability, in addition to fostering diversity and inclusion in the utilities sector. Suresh has strong links across the water sector, with a keen focus on how we can use digital solutions to solve the sector’s biggest challenges, from leakage and water quality to climate change and resilience.