On December 20, the unveiling ceremony of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area Water Technology Innovation Center and the Guangdong Province Digital Twin River Basin Key Technology Exchange and Promotion Conference were held in Guangzhou. Journalists learned at the event that the Innovation Center will closely align with the core water security needs of the Greater Bay Area, focusing on cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields such as “water conservancy + modern information technology, big data, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and robotics.” It will concentrate on the research, development, and application of new water conservancy technologies, processes, materials, and equipment, accelerating the incubation and implementation of scientific and technological achievements.

Huang Zhijian, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Water Resources; Tang Hongwu, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of South China University of Technology; Ni Li, First-Level Inspector of the Department of International Cooperation and Science and Technology of the Ministry of Water Resources; and Yang Jiwei, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, attended the event and delivered speeches. He Lijin, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Pearl River Water Resources Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources; Chen Renzhu, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Water Resources; Liang Junda, Vice Mayor of Heyuan Municipal Government; and responsible officials from the Science and Technology Promotion Center and Information Center of the Ministry of Water Resources were also present.

Tang Hongwu and National Outstanding Engineer Professor Zhang Limin of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology delivered keynote reports titled “Hydrodynamic Restructuring and Systematic Governance under the Water Network Framework” and “Digital Twin-empowered Landslide/Flood Risk Management,” respectively.

Huang Zhijian pointed out that the establishment of the Greater Bay Area Water Technology Innovation Center is a concrete action to implement the deployment of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government in advancing the construction of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. He expressed hope that the Center would achieve three new breakthroughs.

First, a breakthrough in operational mechanisms: promoting physical, efficient, and market-oriented operations of the Center; building a “1+N” layout; striving for inclusion in national-level water technology innovation platforms; and integrating scientific research and technologies from Hong Kong and Macao to achieve “three-region linkage and resource sharing.”

Second, a breakthrough in tackling water challenges in the Greater Bay Area: focusing on prominent issues such as flood control, disaster mitigation, and water resource utilization, integrating new technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing, and forming practical results that can be implemented and applied.

Third, a breakthrough in advancing the industrialization of water technology equipment: centering on real-world needs of the water conservancy sector, promoting the systematic, equipment-based, and engineering-oriented development of water technologies, accelerating the transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements, and opening up the “last mile” of technology implementation.

He stated that in the construction of digital twin water conservancy systems, Guangdong will focus on building a comprehensive perception system by fully utilizing new equipment such as the Beidou Navigation Satellite System, LiDAR, and intelligent inspection robots. Efforts will be made to address shortcomings in identifying “four disorder” issues in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, as well as in safety monitoring of water conservancy projects, gradually establishing a full-coverage three-dimensional perception system integrating “space–air remote sensing + ground intelligence + underwater detection.” Efforts will also be made in building water conservancy digital-intelligence models by creating the Guangdong Water Conservancy Intelligent Data Center, developing practical models tailored to Guangdong’s water conservancy realities, constructing effective “intelligent agents,” and providing high-quality water conservancy data services. In application promotion and iterative upgrading, Guangdong will strengthen application deployment and iteration, actively carry out joint innovation, enhance problem-solving capabilities and effectiveness, and promote the experience of “twin reuse.”

“The establishment of the Greater Bay Area Water Technology Innovation Center is an effective measure to address challenges in water governance,” said Yang Jiwei. He noted that in 2025, the “Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou” innovation cluster ranked first globally in the Global Innovation Index for the first time, Guangdong’s comprehensive regional innovation capacity has ranked first nationwide for nine consecutive years, and the role of technological innovation in supporting and leading high-quality development continues to strengthen. He expressed hope that the Center would become a world-class source of original water technology innovation, a demonstration zone for results transformation, and a hub for high-end talent, making greater contributions to high-quality water conservancy development in Guangdong and providing solid water security support for Guangdong’s role in “taking the lead, setting an example, and shouldering major responsibilities.”

Tang Hongwu stated that the Greater Bay Area Water Technology Innovation Center represents a new exploration in collaboratively advancing educational innovation, technological breakthroughs, and talent cultivation around the major issue of water security. South China University of Technology continues to promote the coordinated development of education, technology, and talent in the water conservancy field, focusing on frontier directions such as smart water conservancy, precise regulation of the national water network, and basin system governance, and driving a fundamental shift in water conservancy technology from follow-up development to systematic and source-oriented innovation. The university will make every effort to build a highland for interdisciplinary talent cultivation, establish cross-regional collaborative research systems, actively explore new paradigms for transforming scientific and technological achievements, and strive to build the Center into an innovation hub rich in talent, fruitful in outcomes, and full of vitality at an early date.

Ni Li stated that the establishment of the Greater Bay Area Water Technology Innovation Center aligns with the profound transformation of water conservancy science and technology characterized by digitalization, networking, and intelligence. She expressed hope that, taking the unveiling as an opportunity, the Center will be rooted in the strategic positioning of the Greater Bay Area, promote the development of a highland for key technological breakthroughs, a hub for research and development成果 transformation, and an open platform for industry–academia–research collaboration, and build a benchmark and window for opening up water conservancy science and technology to the outside world. She also expressed hope that Guangdong will actively cultivate new quality productive forces in water conservancy and provide more “Guangdong solutions” for national water conservancy science and technology innovation.

In accordance with the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of Guangdong Province and the Long-Range Objectives Through 2035 and the Guangdong Provincial Water Network Construction Plan, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Water Resources has taken the lead in promoting the establishment of the Greater Bay Area Water Technology Innovation Center. In the future, the Center will fully stimulate the participation of universities, research institutes, enterprises, and other entities in the transformation of water conservancy scientific and technological achievements, gradually cultivate a group of high-tech enterprises in the water conservancy industry with core competitiveness, bring together and build a complete water conservancy high-tech industrial chain, and make every effort to create a world-class water technology research, development, and industrial hub.