5 questions for Cees Buisman, chairman of the jury
What do look for during a pitch?
The most important criteria are; is it new and innovative. Plus it needs to be a technological breakthrough and sustainable. To name just a few. The other question I ask myself would the world be better off we started to implement/use this tech, would I use it myself and what is the commercial proposition.
What are the do’s/don’ts for participants?
For me the most important thing is that you don’t just tell what you can do with it, but also how it works. My favorite one-liner is; if everyone can understand that changing lead into gold is very valuable, but the question is how would you do it? So tell us something why your innovation is technically extraordinary. You don’t have to go into too much detail about into the environmental reasons, we usually know that already.
How do you choose the water tech innovator of tomorrow?
It is of course an honor to be asked as the chairman of the jury. This task is entrusted to me based on experience, plus my own vision of what the world is waiting for, the next big thing so to say. Also taking into account if the innovation is sustainable and commercially viable plus keeping a close eye on the technical readiness level.
What’s more important, the innovation or the commercial viability of an innovation?
One is worthless without the other, so it is all in the balance.
What do you think is the most important characteristic of an entrepreneur to be successful within the water tech sector?
Courage and luck, without courage nothing happens and without luck you won’t succeed. Together with Paul O’ Callaghan from Blue Tec Research we did some extensive research on this. The UV membrane innovation is a good example, because of bacteria outbreaks in the seventies it suddenly became extremely relevant and a commercial success.
My motto is if you have little luck in your career you should do something else, this also is very true for an entrepreneur. If I apply this insight to myself I feel very lucky and fortunate to head Wetsus.
Cees Buisman and the other jury members will judge the WIS Award nominees during the Grand Finale at EWTW in September.
| Who are the nominees? Rolapac BV – Rolapac Fat layer removal system – Laurens Verberne CE-Line – Measurement tool Celine – Wilco Dijkstra Purgatoria – Icabus – Frans Durieux Ferr-Tech – FerSol – Judith le Fèvre Q-Blue b.v. – Q-Blue MVII – Harry Müller Withthegrid – Amy – Paul Mignot Jotem water solutions – BluElephant – Roy Rosink Paques Biomaterials – Joost Pâques HULO – Robbert Lodewijks |
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