Water and digital convergence – hydroinformatics leader Professor Dragan Savić | The Stream Podcast

This week on The Stream, Will and Tom are joined by the incredible Professor Dragan Savić, a legend when it comes to the intersection of water and digital.

He was the UK’s first professor of Hydroinformatics, the former CEO of KWR Water Research Institute, and a chartered civil and water engineer with over 40 years of experience in research, teaching, and consulting.

Plus hear about:
How Will and Tom had the privilege of working alongside Dragan in recent years on an advisory board, at KWR and events.

Dragan sharing details of obtaining his master's in Belgrade, Serbia, before moving to Canada, the UK, and Exeter University. Tom would say it's probably the best university in the world, although, as a graduate, perhaps he's personally biased!

They discuss elements of ‘chance’, and how we can help to stack the odds in our favour by being open to new opportunities and embracing changes.

As well as touching on topics such as AI and population degrowth, he talks about development in Africa and how he wants to focus on the continent in the next phase of his very fruitful career.

The Stream podcast with Will and Tom, in Season 8, focuses on individuals who have made a dent in the water universe. Whether it’s building and scaling a novel water innovation, influencing public policy, or enabling access to water and sanitation, we are inviting guests who have made a significant impact during their careers.

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Chapters 🕰️
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:00 Dragan's Origin Story
00:05:00 Chance and Serendipity
00:10:00 Engineering Your Own Luck
00:15:00 The Spectrum and Early Computing
00:20:00 The Birth of Hydroinformatics
00:25:00 AI and the Future of Water Management
00:30:00 The Impact of Population Degrowth
00:35:00 Mentoring Young Water Professionals
00:40:00 Working in Africa
00:45:00 Final Thoughts
00:50:00 Outro


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About Will & Tom
Will Sarni is the founder and CEO of Water Foundry a water strategy consultancy. He is also the Founder and General Partner of Water Foundry Ventures, a water technology venture fund focused on addressing water scarcity, quality and equitable access to water. He has been a sustainability and water strategy advisor to multinationals, water technology companies, investors, and non-governmental organizations for his entire career.

With over 14 years in the water and climate tech space, award-winning environmental journalist, Tom founded Atlantean Media in 2018 as a boutique digital content and media company. Born out of a need to bring engineering-based content to life, the organisation now represents and advises public and private-sector clients across the water and climate-tech space. The mission? To connect people to water through creative content.

🎧 Audio podcasts streams:
Apple podasts: https://apple.co/2KtCY27
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3eouCWG
Stitcher: https://bit.ly/3grzCvl

Special thanks to this season's sponsor, Raymond James: https://www.raymondjames.com/

And to our fantastic charity partner, Frank Water: https://www.frankwater.com/

And thanks to our knowledge partners:
British Water: https://www.britishwater.co.uk/ | WWF: https://www.wwfca.org/en/our_work/water/
| Water Alliance: https://wateralliance.nl/en/water-all... | DCU Water institute: https://dcuwater.ie/
| SurplusWater25: https://surpluswater2025.com/ | Earth and Environmental Science at Berkeley Lab: https://eesa.lbl.gov/ | Water Foundry: https://www.waterfoundry.com/ | Atlantean Media: https://www.atlanteanmedia.com/