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DHI and Nile Basin Initiative strengthen cooperation on sustainable water management

The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and DHI have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build on their long-standing collaboration in advancing sustainable, science-based management of the Nile’s shared water resources.

The agreement was signed by Dr Florence Grace Adongo, Executive Director of the Nile Basin Initiative Secretariat, and Mette Vestergaard, CEO of DHI, during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden.
Established in 1999, the NBI is the only all-inclusive, basin-wide platform for dialogue, knowledge-sharing and joint action among its ten member states. It plays a critical role in balancing national development needs with basin-wide sustainability and in enabling transparent, evidence-based decision-making. In a region where the river is central to the livelihoods of over 250 million people, the NBI’s work helps to reduce political tensions, identify cooperative investments and ensure that the Nile’s resources are managed for the benefit of all Nile Basin countries.
NBI’s Executive Director, Dr Florence Grace Adongo said, ’In these final few years of our 10-year strategy, strengthening our partnerships for the people of the Nile Basin has become ever more urgent. Today marks an important milestone. By formalising our collaboration with DHI, we commit to jointly developing the next generation of the Nile Basin Decision Support System — 2.0 — and aligning it with other key tools, including NBI’s flood forecasting system, drought early warning systems and digital innovations for managing the Nile’s water and ecosystem.’
DHI and NBI have previously collaborated on the Nile Basin Decision Support System (NB-DSS), a shared planning tool that integrates data, models and analysis to support cooperative decision-making. Looking ahead, they share the ambition of further enhancing such tools to meet evolving needs for basin-wide planning, climate resilience and sustainable water use.
Over the years, the collaboration has also included basin-wide flood and drought forecasting systems, flash flood assessment in the Nile Equatorial Lakes region, hydropower optimisation studies and flood risk mapping in the Eastern Nile. These initiatives have complemented the development and maintenance of the NB-DSS, ensuring that decision-makers across the Basin have access to reliable data and scenario analysis tools for planning and cooperation.

The MoU builds on more than a decade of cooperation between NBI, DHI and the UNEP-DHI Centre on Water and Environment. The agreement outlines areas where the partners aim to work together to strengthen transboundary water cooperation across the Basin’s member states. These include:

Building technical capacity – supporting knowledge-sharing and training in science-based decision-making and collaborating with universities in the Basin to apply research in practice.
Enabling data and knowledge exchange – promoting dialogue among stakeholders, including through NBI events such as the Nile Basin Development Forum and Nile Day.
Supporting investment planning – undertaking environmental impact assessments and feasibility studies for member state projects.


By formalising their cooperation, NBI and DHI aim to leverage their combined technical expertise, digital tools and networks to deliver practical solutions for sustainable water management in one of the world’s most complex and important river basins.
‘The Nile Basin Initiative plays a vital role in enabling countries to work together on the sustainable management of the Nile. DHI is pleased to continue our long-standing partnership, bringing science and technology to support cooperation and informed decision-making. Through this agreement, we look forward to exploring new opportunities with NBI to strengthen resilience and deliver benefits for communities and ecosystems across the Basin,’ states Mette Vestergaard, Chief Executive Officer at DHI.

World’s largest open-jet wind generator now in operation at DHI

DTU Wind and DHI have successfully developed, installed and tested the world’s largest open-jet wind generator for floating wind tests – a major milestone in advancing the physical testing of floating offshore wind turbines.
 
With its 5x5m area, the wind generator can blow up to five metres per second, corresponding to a prototype wind speed of approximately 40m/s with a model scale of 1:70. It is therefore believed to be one of the world’s most powerful. Combined with 3D waves with directional spreading in DHI’s ocean basin, the facility enables comprehensive testing of floating wind turbines under operational and extreme conditions.
The wind generator is a key deliverable in the FloatLab research project and will allow the team to perform test campaigns that simulate extreme offshore conditions using realistic wind and wave interaction. The FloatLab project aims to ultimately reduce risks and validate engineering models used for turbine and floating foundation design in the offshore wind sector.
 
‘In our spring test campaign, we have documented its performance and applied it to test a design variant of Stiesdal Offshores TetraSub concept,’ says Henrik Bredmose, Professor at DTU Wind. ‘Each of the 25 fans operates as part of a synchronised system. Very much like voices in a choir, singing a very coordinated melody,’ says Henrik Bredmose. ‘The fans replicate the turbulent inflow that turbines experience offshore. So now, we can physically recreate turbulence in a controlled lab setting for floating wind.’ 
In the tests, the project team uses a scaled version of the IEA Wind 22-megawatt turbine, mounted on a variant of the Stiesdal TetraSub floating foundation. It is already built and installed at DHI’s wave basin facility in Hørsholm, Denmark. 
Measurements of the tests will be connected directly to calculation models in a digital twin setup. The aero-hydro-servo-elastic response of the floater and turbine in wind and waves can then be simulated and studied, potentially improving accuracy and reducing risk. 
‘With the wind generator now in operation, we can replicate offshore wind and wave conditions more realistically than ever before,’ says Pietro Danilo Tomaselli, Senior Hydraulic Engineer and Head of FloatLab activities at DHI. ‘This gives DHI and DTU Wind a unique opportunity to optimise floater designs, improve turbine control systems, and validate engineering models, ultimately making floating wind a more reliable and cost-effective solution for the green transition.'

New global report charts the digital future of water management

Survey of 120+ water institutions highlights five technologies reshaping the sector and the risks that come with them.
 
A new international report offers timely insight into how digital technologies are changing the way the world manages water. Developed by IAHR in collaboration with DHI and other global research institutes and experts, the Global Water Institutes report on digital transformation ‘From data to water decisions – Accelerating the digital journey’ outlines how digitalisation is accelerating across the hydro-environmental sector and what needs to happen next.
 
At the heart of the report are five key digital accelerators that can transform water management systems across scales and geographies:
 

Remote sensing: 80% of respondents already use or plan to use remote sensing, which provides essential data for monitoring and modelling everything from flood risk to water quality, especially in data-scarce or hard-to-reach regions.
Data, sensors and Internet of Things: Enable real-time monitoring of water systems, supporting early warning, performance tracking and incident response in increasingly complex and climate-sensitive environments.
Advanced modelling: The most widely adopted technology among respondents, with over 90% using models for scenario testing, optimisation and planning under uncertainty.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning: Opening new possibilities for predictive maintenance, system forecasting and operational efficiency.
Digital twins: Representing the full integration of data, models and real-time systems, digital twins are seen as a powerful tool for both short-term operations and long-term strategic planning.

 
Opportunities and risks in the digital water transition
Drawing on survey input from 127 respondents in 41 countries, the report shows broad alignment on the benefits of digitalisation – better prediction, faster decision-making and more efficient resource use. However, it also draws attention to a consistent set of risks:
 

Data gaps: Inconsistent, inaccessible or poor-quality data remains a significant challenge.
Technical capacity: Many organisations cite a lack of in-house expertise to process and apply digital tools.
Cybersecurity and reliability: As systems become more connected, the exposure to cyber and infrastructure vulnerabilities increases.
Ethical and social implications: Automation, AI and the shift toward digital twins raise questions about transparency, accountability and inclusion.
Dependence on proprietary tools: Vendor lock-in is an emerging concern, especially around AI and platform integration.

 
A call for integration and collaboration
The report advocates for a more integrated approach to digitalisation, combining open standards, multidisciplinary training and collaborative frameworks. It highlights underused opportunities, such as leveraging open-source remote sensing data, cross-sensor data fusion and hybrid AI-physics modelling.
While the digital transition is already well underway, the report urges the water community not to see it as a purely technical journey. Governance, trust and human capacity must evolve in parallel. The report calls for greater collaboration across research, engineering, public agencies and the private sector to ensure digital innovation is both scalable and accountable. 
The key recommendations from the report are:
 

Increase use of open data and interoperable platforms
Promote hybrid modelling approaches that combine physics and machine learning
Support capacity development through training and institutional knowledge-sharing
Ensure governance and ethical frameworks keep pace with digital innovation

 
The report is published under IAHR’s leadership as part of the organisation’s commitment to advancing knowledge and innovation across the entire water cycle. It was introduced at the IAHR World Congress 2025 in Singapore, with DHI colleague Henrik Madsen, Research Manager, presenting the sections of the report on Earth Observation data and digital twins. 

New partnership between DHI and PlanBlue to strengthen ocean health and coastal resilience

DHI and PlanBlue announce a new strategic partnership, signed at the recent UN Ocean Conference in Nice. This collaboration brings together DHI’s global expertise in marine and coastal services with PlanBlue’s innovative ocean monitoring technologies, enabling new ways to monitor, protect and sustainably develop the world’s oceans.
PlanBlue, based in Germany, is a deep-tech company specialising in high-resolution seafloor imaging and smart data analytics. Their proprietary system provides detailed, geo-referenced visual data that support precise and repeatable ocean monitoring. Their value lies in translating seafloor imagery into actionable environmental metrics to support habitat classification, biodiversity assessment and long-term marine planning.
‘At a time when data-driven solutions are essential for addressing the ocean crisis, this partnership will enhance how we measure and manage underwater environments,’ said Ole Larsen, Director of Strategic Partnerships at DHI. 
Together, DHI and PlanBlue will accelerate the delivery of tools that support ecosystem protection, smarter infrastructure planning and transparent decision-making in marine projects.
‘Our partnership allows us to go deeper – literally and figuratively – in understanding the seabed and supporting better decisions for ocean health. We will strengthen biodiversity mapping, enhance our services for sustainable marine infrastructure and help our clients make informed decisions based on sound data and science,’ Ole Larsen said.
Technology for healthier oceans
The partnership will focus on making complex marine data more accessible, visual and usable for stakeholders – from government agencies and NGOs to ports, energy companies and coastal cities.
 
With PlanBlue’s advanced underwater imaging technology and DHI’s environmental modelling and advisory services, the joint solutions will enable:

Mapping and protecting marine habitats, including seagrass meadows, coral reefs and artificial coastal structures such as harbour walls, helping authorities plan marine protected areas and assess ecosystem health over time.
Minimising the ecological footprint of infrastructure projects through precise baseline data, improved impact assessments and ongoing monitoring.
Accelerating restoration initiatives, such as coral regrowth or habitat recovery following dredging, by using data to guide interventions and evaluate their effectiveness.
Supporting nature-inclusive design in offshore energy and coastal protection projects, ensuring developments are aligned with biodiversity goals.

These applications align closely with DHI’s commitment to advancing the UN Ocean Decade goals and building the knowledge base for more resilient and sustainable coasts.
 
‘This is about making the invisible visible – turning ocean data into actionable insights for healthier ecosystems,’ said Dr. Hannah Brocke, co-founder of PlanBlue. 
The partnership will roll out with joint projects in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia with a focus on habitat mapping, coastal development and sustainable marine operations.

DHI study reveals how automated calibration enhances reliability of water modelling

Recent research demonstrates how automated calibration techniques are advancing hydrodynamic modelling, delivering faster, more reliable results to support informed decision-making in water management.
 
Hydrodynamic models are essential tools for simulating how water moves through environments such as rivers, estuaries and coastal areas. They are critical for decision-making in areas including flood protection, navigation, coastal development and environmental conservation. However, building reliable models requires inputting a wide range of parameters — many of which are difficult, costly or even impossible to measure directly across time and space.
‘Parameters like bed roughness or turbulence coefficients can vary greatly across landscapes and water bodies’, explains Clemens Cremer, DHI’s GenAI Lead and Expert in Data &amp; Modelling. ‘It is not feasible, be it economically or for technical reasons, to measure all of them, their spatial resolution or temporal variability. Calibration allows us to fine-tune the models by adjusting these parameters in a physically reasonable range until the outputs align with observed data, such as water levels or flow speeds.’
The limits of manual calibrationTraditionally, this calibration has relied on manual trial-and-error by experienced modellers. While effective, it is time-consuming, can be subjective and increasingly impractical as models become more complex. For example, calibrating a model with 11 different roughness zones, as in DHI’s Elbe River case study, means tracking thousands of possible parameter combinations and their interactions.
This is where automatic model calibration is making a breakthrough.
DHI’s study shows that automated calibration techniques can systematically explore vast combinations of parameters, identifying the optimal settings to produce accurate, consistent model predictions. These methods can shift the focus of the modeller from tedious assessment of model results and adjustment of parameters for each model-run to more thorough thought about right metrics (what defines a ‘good’ model for a specific purpose) prior to starting the calibration. As an added benefit, autocalibration might obtain solutions human experts might miss — especially in high-dimensional parameter spaces.
Efficiency, flexibility and smarter insightsClemens adds, ‘The benefits of automated calibration extend beyond just efficiency. Automated calibration can work with diverse data sources, from traditional water level gauges to satellite measurements, making it possible to create accurate models even in regions with limited in-situ monitoring infrastructure. 
‘They can also determine parameter sensitivity and provide insights into tradeoffs when multiple objectives (e.g. optimising for error in space or in time) are pursued. This makes it easier to align model outputs with client goals and regulatory standards. That’s a game changer for decision-makers in water environments.’
 
Join the conversation at IAHR 2025Clemens Cremer will be presenting his research at the IAHR World Congress 2025, where DHI's representatives will be available to share insights, discuss ongoing projects and highlight recent technological developments. Find us at the Singapore EXPO, Hall 2A, Booth C4.
 
Follow DHI’s LinkedIn page for updates and coverage from the event.

DHI at IAHR 2025: Advancing research, development and innovation for a sustainable water future

From 23 to 27 June 2025, DHI will join global experts, researchers and practitioners at the 41st IAHR World Congress in Singapore. Organised by the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research, this year’s congress will explore the theme ‘Innovative water engineering for sustainable development’.
 
The event will focus on the evolving challenges at the intersection of water resources management and climate change adaptation, including the links between water, energy, food security and nature. As a gold sponsor, DHI will contribute to the discussions through a series of presentations, sessions and high-level panels that reflect the company’s focus on making an impact – by bringing research, development, innovation and technology together to address real-world water and environmental challenges.
Key contributions at IAHRDHI’s contributions at IAHR 2025 will highlight the role of applied research and digital tools in helping cities and industries adapt to climate impacts, protect ecosystems and improve water management practices. Representatives from DHI will present in both technical and strategic forums, contributing perspectives on digital innovation, stakeholder engagement and integrated modelling approaches.
 
Presentations include:

Comparing optimisation methodologies for calibration of 2D/3D hydrodynamic models | Speaker: Clemens Cremer, Expert, Data &amp; Modelling and GenAI Lead, Software Products
A flexible subgrid method for fast flood simulations using shallow water equations with enhanced bathymetry resolution | Speaker: Max Bitsch, Ph.D. Student, Software Products
Integrated air and water phase modelling of hydrogen sulphide transport in sewer systems | Speaker: Line Karin Mortensen, Scientific Software Developer, Software Products
Robust sensor data validation with deep learning: performance analysis with synthetic anomalies | Speaker: Rocco Palmitessa, Senior Data &amp; Modelling Engineer, Software Products
Local stakeholder engagement in sustainable management of marine habitats using satellite technology – an example from Malaysia | Speaker: Malinda Auluck, Senior Environmental Consultant, Marine &amp; Coastal
Informing adaptive development in sensitive coastal habitats using environmental data and hydrodynamic modelling | Speaker: Thue Geil, Portfolio Lead, Marine &amp; Coastal
Modelling of sediment clump in open water sediment disposal | Speaker: Jenn Wei Er, Head of Projects, Marine &amp; Coastal 

In addition, DHI will contribute to a report on the digital transformation of the water sector and present its findings during a special session at IAHR. Stefan Szylkarski, Executive Vice President for Water in Cities at DHI, will also participate in a high-level panel discussion on flood-resilient cities.
Stefan Szylkarski states: ‘DHI focuses on bridging the gap between research into practical solutions that deliver real-world impact. Our work spans sustainable water management, ecosystem protection and climate adaptation, with an emphasis on applying scientific insights where they make the most difference. Flood-resilient cities are one key example, where we integrate modelling, data and technology to help urban areas mitigate and adapt to extreme weather events. IAHR 2025 provides a valuable opportunity to share our approach and exchange knowledge with others addressing similar challenges.’
 
Join the conversation at IAHR 2025DHI will be present at Singapore EXPO, Hall 2A, Booth C4 throughout the congress, where representatives will be available to share insights, discuss ongoing projects and highlight recent technological developments. Follow DHI’s LinkedIn page for updates and coverage from the event.

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