Title: Topics focused on, “Water Desalination Technologies and the Use of Alternative Energies for Desalination” and “Water Treatment/Purification Technologies”

Where: Workshop during World Water Day, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland

When: March 22, 2012

In 2012, no award was granted. In collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), GIWEH highlighted the innovation and patents produced by the private sector in general. The workshop offered the opportunity to learn about the role of patent information as a tool to support two pressing water challenges: water desalination using alternative energies and water treatment and purification. Two patent landscape reports (PLRs) have been prepared on these topics for WIPO by Cambridge Intellectual Property Ltd. in cooperation with IRENA and GIWEH. This workshop highlighted the excessive cost of desalination and the necessity to develop more effective, efficient, and less expensive technologies.

Green Innovation and Technologies: Practical Solutions
Organizing partners: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health (GIWEH)

Other potential partners: UNEP, UNIDO, ITU, and other agencies working on technology transfer issues