The US Chamber of Commerce has concluded the BusinessH2O Summit, a conference bringing together business leaders, government officials and water experts from the United States and Israel to discuss best practices in corporate water stewardship and public policies to address the growing demand for water. The Chamber also launched the US-Israel Water Working Group to support ongoing efforts in advancing water sustainability. The Working Group will conduct a BusinessH2O mission to Israel next year.
The BusinessH2O Summit was organized in partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, led by Oded Distel, Director of Israel NewTech. A delegation of Israeli water technology start-ups, organized by the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, traveled to Las Vegas, NV for the Summit.
The summit addressed issues such as improving water governance to promote economic growth, promote investment in water technology and strengthen US collaboration with Israel on water policy and technology. High-level government leaders (including Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and Executive Director for the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Steve Hill) discussed the importance of public-private partnerships. The US Chamber of Commerce Foundation released its 2016 case-study report on corporate water stewardship at the summit and the US Chamber is producing a white paper on the summit’s key takeaways for the next administration. The conference concluded with a memorandum of understanding signing between Israel’s National Technological Innovation Authority and Nevada’s WaterStart, a public-private joint venture to coordinate expertise and infrastructure on water innovation.