1. Water Technology Innovation through Clusters
Sally C. Gutierrez, Director
Environmental Technology Innovation Clusters Program
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, Ohio

2. The Business Case for Water Innovation
…with impacts as high as $1 bn.…
The 2013 CDP on water used survey responses from 180 Global 500 companies.
Other facts from the CDP:
63% of businesses have set concrete goals for water recycling, reuse, and conservation.
Of the largest companies surveyed, 90% have water management plans in place.
Water risks are mostly expected to impact direct operations (66%) and supply chains (39%).
53% have already experienced water impacts to their business.
…expected within the next 5 years
70% of businesses identify substantial water risks

3. Cluster The Cluster Concept
Clusters are dense, regional networks of companies and other groups in the same industry.
Cluster
Univer-sities
Startups
Local Gov’t
State Gov’t
Federal Gov’t
Support Groups
Large Corps.
Water clusters are networks of businesses and others in the water industry in a particular region.
These networks promote innovation by getting established businesses, startups, researchers, utilities, government agencies, nonprofits, and others talking to each other.
Researchers can get connected to technology developers who will take their technologies to market.
Technology developers can get connected to resources to get them through the commercialization process, such as business incubators, venture capital, and testing facilities.
Utilities and other end users can talk to researchers and developers, encouraging the development of the solutions they want to see.

4. Do Clusters Matter?
Clusters contribute to the growth of existing industries
Industries participating in a strong cluster register higher growth of wages and innovation (as well as higher employment growth)
Clusters contribute to the creation of new industries
New industries are more likely to emerge if the can integrate into an existing cluster, or if related or neighboring clusters are strong
Strong clusters contribute to the overall growth of the region
Strong traded clusters in a region contribute to the employment growth of other traded and local activities in that region
From Michael Porter’s presentation:
More than 50% of U.S. private payroll are generated in economic sectors that ‘cluster’
Productivity, wage, and patenting are significantly higher in clusters than in the average of the economy
Roughly 44% of traded employment is in strong clusters (i.e. regional clusters with significant critical mass)
Regions at all stages of development benefit from cluster presence
Industries that are part of a strong cluster environment register
• higher growth of start-up activity
• higher level of start-up activity
• higher level of employment in surviving start-up firms
We also estimate the effect of clusters on other dimensions of regional industry and regional performance:
•Clusters contribute to the growth of existing industries
–Industries participating in a strong cluster register higher growth of wages and innovation (as well as higher employment growth)
–There are complementarities between the innovation and employment performance in clusters
•Clusters contribute to the creation of new industries
–New industries are more likely to emerge if the can integrate into an existing cluster, or if related or neighboring clusters are strong
•Strong clusters contribute to the overall growth of the region
–Strong traded clusters in a region contribute to the employment growth of other traded and local activities in that region
Source: Delgado/Porter/Stern, 2012, 2014, “Clusters, Convergence, and Economic Performance,” NBER and Research Policy

5. Cluster in Action: CitiLogics
Testing & Demonstration
R&D, startup
Phase I SBIR grant
R&D contract
CitiLogics is a good example of clusters in action.
CitiLogics began with research on EPANET-RTX software conducted by EPA with support from UC. The UC professor involved in the research (Jim Uber) decided to start a company, CitiLogics, to commercialize the research.
Thanks to connections made through Confluence, the cluster organization in the Greater Cincinnati area, CitiLogics was then incubated by UpTech in Northern Kentucky. Currently, the company is doing testing and demonstration of their product at the Northern Kentucky Water District. The NSF has provided funding for further development through the Small Business Innovation Research program. Eventually, DOC will help out with export promotion.
R&D
Incubation
Export promotion

6. Locations of U.S. Water Clusters1 2 14 8 9
11/ 12
Clean Urban Water Technology Zone (Tacoma, WA)
Oregon Water Tech
The BlueTechValley (Central and San Joaquin Valleys, CA)
Las Vegas Cluster Effort (Nevada)
H2OStream (Tucson, Arizona)
Colorado Water Innovation Cluster (Fort Collins, CO)
Surge Accelerator (Houston, TX)
The Water Council (Milwaukee, MI)
Michigan Water Technology Initiative
Confluence WTIC (SW Ohio/N Kentucky/SE Indiana)
Cleveland Water Cluster (NE Ohio)
Akron Global Water Alliance (Akron, OH)
Water Economy Network (Pittsburgh, PA)
New England Water Innovation Network (Massachusetts) 13 10 6 3 4 5 7
Full map available at www2.epa.gov/clusters-program/clusters-map.
This map is not intended to be comprehensive, and may not include some emerging water clusters.

7. International Water Clusters1 2 3 4
Ontario WaterTAP
Acqueau (Belgium)
Israel Water Cluster (EPA MOU)
Singapore Water Cluster (EPA MOU)

8. Clusters Program Support Activities
Advises on best practices
Maintains inventory of water clusters
Works to convene water cluster leaders
Don’t forget to mention Maggie’s paper.
www2.epa.gov/clusters-program

9. SBIR Awards in Water Technology, 2006-2012
Funding by Agency
DoE
$22,613,101
NSF
$18,963,788
NIH
$12,392,558
DoD
$10,246,737
USDA
$8,649,754
EPA
$6,762,752
NASA
$4,995,531
NOAA
$2,532,253
Total
$87,156,474

10. What kinds of technologies get funded? (2012-14)

11. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Contact Information
Sally C. Gutierrez Director Environmental Technology Innovation Clusters Program Office of Research and Development USEPA 26 West Martin Luther King Drive MS-G-93 Cincinnati, Ohio
11/14/2018
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency