Water Institute at the Univ of Waterloo, BlackBerry Partner to Address Water Challenges

Building on a partnership spanning over three decades, BlackBerry Limited and the University of Waterloo’s Water Institute, one of the world’s top water research institutes, has launched a first-of-its-kind innovation research challenge for professors and students.

The Water Innovation Challenge invites new applications of BlackBerry technologies to address water-related challenges, including the cybersecurity of water systems, water emergencies, and Internet of Things (IoT) water management solutions.

In support of a mutual commitment to help ensure the availability and sustainable management of water, the Water Innovation Challenge will catalyze new research and technological innovation that advances the sustainability and water related United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Water resilience is critical for economic development, climate change, and healthy ecosystems.

“BlackBerry was founded with an agenda of addressing some of the world’s most critical needs, specifically cybersecurity and connectivity. We are purposefully delivering innovations and partnerships which leverage our technologies to address these most pressing issues facing communities and industries around the world,” said Neelam Sandhu, Senior Vice President and Chief Elite Customer Success Officer, BlackBerry. “We are delighted to expand our partnership with the University of Waterloo to help tackle water security.”

“The Water Institute at the University of Waterloo is thrilled to be partnering with BlackBerry to catalyze technological innovation to advance progress against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” said Roy Brouwer, Water Institute Executive Director, Professor in the Department of Economics. “The Water Innovation Challenge will connect our researchers to BlackBerry technologies in new ways to address the most urgent global challenges of today”.

BlackBerry provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 195M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint management, endpoint security, encryption, and embedded systems.

The Water Institute was established by the University of Waterloo in 2009 to be a global leader in interdisciplinary water research and education. The Institute facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange in addressing complex water challenges, and promotes innovation in interdisciplinary research and education.

Water Institute researchers represent a wide breadth of disciplinary expertise with over 170 faculty members, including more than 20 Canada and University Research Chairs, and 300 graduate students representing 23 departments and schools across all 6 faculties. The Water Institute is the largest water research centre in Canada and is ranked among the world’s top academic water research and education institutions.