INTCATCH will instigate a paradigm shift in the monitoring and management of surface water quality that is fit
for global waters in the period 2020-2050. INTCATCH will do this by developing efficient, user-friendly water
monitoring strategies and systems based on innovative technologies that will provide real time data for important
parameters, moving towards SMART Rivers. The business model will transform water governance by facilitating
sustainable water quality management by community groups and NGOs using a clouds data linked to a decision
support system and eco-innovative technologies.
The INTCATCH project will use demonstration activities to showcase eco-innovative autonomous and radio
controlled boats, sensors, DNA test kits and run-off treatment technologies. Actions which develop and evaluate these
in a range of catchments will address the important innovation barriers to uptake, notably, a lack of knowledge of
new technologies and their capabilities, identified by the European Innovation Plan (EIP) on water. By conceptually
moving the laboratory to the ‘field’, the monitoring techniques that will be developed aim to supersede the inefficient,
time dependent, costly and labour-intensive routine sampling and analysis procedures currently deployed to
understand the quality of receiving waters. It will compliment routine monitoring that is required for baseline datasets,
but also enable cost-effective impact and management investigations.
INTCATCH will incentivise stakeholder innovation in monitoring and will facilitate new financing for innovation
through its innovative franchise business model and empowerment of community groups and NGOs. The market
ambition is that the INTCATCH business will facilitate an eco-innovative approach to deliver good quality water
bodies across Europe and beyond. This will support green growth, increase resilience to climate change and capture
greater market-share for Europe’s innovative industries.
