EPtre for Doctoral Training in Water Informatics: Science and Engineering (WISE)SRC Cen

全球水循环由相互作用的物理、生物地球化学、生态和人类系统组成的复杂网络组成。对这一复杂周期的管理已经实行了几十年，但由于不断增加的人口压力和环境变化，新的挑战摆在面前。这些挑战只能通过根本性的变化来装饰，无论是在观点上还是在实践中。最近对水安全在解决生态系统服务和可持续性方面的作用的关注也强调了需要采取新的办法来实现这一双重目标。这反过来又需要新的、全系统的、多方面的、数据密集的、跨学科的研究、培训和开发方法--这些方法利用了21世纪的信息爆炸和前沿技术。水信息学(也称为“水信息学”或“水信息工程”)近年来发展迅速，试图充分利用来自空间和地面传感器的遥感信息的激增，并在空间、时间和光谱分辨率方面提高能力。从数据中获得的信息和知识可以在全球、区域和地方各级对水循环进行更有效和可靠的监测、建模和管理。水信息学研究大数据和智能技术的交叉，在不同的规模上提供更可持续的水解决方案，通过基于证据的洞察来实现创新。随着数字设备的功能飙升和价格暴跌，传感器提供的信息量比以往任何时候都要大，成本更低，可靠性更高。此外，更多的人可以使用更强大的信息和通信技术(ICT)工具和设备(例如，全球有60亿移动电话用户-2011年英国有8,160万人，超过25亿人使用互联网-2012年英国有5,270万人使用互联网)。这些工具还使“人成为传感器”(众包)，将人类的观察和解释技能与互联网的互连结合在一起，使新类型的信息能够众包。将这些趋势结合在一起，提供了惊人的新机会，以全新的方式解决新老问题，迎接围绕水循环的新挑战。据估计，在全球范围内，通过采用智能水技术，每年可实现高达84亿GB的节约，以最大限度地减少运营效率低下，并最大限度地发挥资本和运营支出的效果。科学和技术理事会(2009)、皇家工程院(2012)和土木工程师学会(2012)的报告强调，在具有国家重要性的行业，如“能源、水、卫生、通信和IT系统”，工程师和科学家尤其短缺。预计欧洲IT行业将出现技能短缺(到2015年将有90万个职位空缺)，这促使欧盟委员会发起了一个“大联盟”来解决这一问题。很难想象，在IT与水科学和工程学科的交界处工作的熟练工程师的需求将仅由IT毕业生来满足。因此，WISE CDT的目标将是通过提供研究生课程来填补这一技能缺口，该课程将促进创新和合作的新水平，并培训一批水信息学、科学和工程学领域的工程师和科学家。此外，WISE CDT将与其他与可持续水资源管理相关的传统上独立的学科相联系，范围从统计学到社会科学、地理学、心理学和经济学。

The global water cycle consists of a complex web of interacting physical, biogeochemical, ecological and human systems. Management of this complex cycle has been practised for decades, but new challenges lie ahead due to increasing population pressure and environmental change. These challenges can only be ad-dressed by fundamental changes, both in perspective and in practice. The recent focus on the role of water security in addressing ecosystem services and sustainability has also emphasised the need for new approaches to achieving this dual goal. This in turn requires new, whole-system, multi-faceted, data-intensive, interdisciplinary approaches to research, training and development - approaches which take advantage of the information explosion and leading-edge technologies of the 21st century. Water informatics (also known as 'hydroinformatics' or Water Information Engineering) has grown rapidly in recent years and seeks to take full advantage of the proliferation of remotely sensed information from space and ground based sensors with increasing capabilities in terms of spatial, temporal and spectral resolution. Information and knowledge gained from data allows more efficient and reliable monitoring, modelling and management of the water cycle at global, regional and local scales. Water informatics deals with the intersection of 'big data' with 'smart technologies', to deliver more sustainable water solutions over these diverse scales, enabling innovation through evidence based insight.As the capabilities of digital devices soar and their prices plummet, sensors are providing greater amounts of information than ever, at lower costs and with greater reliability than previously possible. In addition, many more people have access to far more powerful Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and devices (e.g., there are 6 billion mobile-phone subscriptions worldwide - 81.6 million in the UK in 2011, with over 2.5 billion people using the internet - 52.7 million in the UK in 2012). These tools also enable 'People as sensors' (crowd-sourcing), bringing together the skills of humans to observe and interpret with the interconnection of the Internet to enable new types of information to be crowd-sourced. Combining these trends provides amazing new opportunities to address old and new problems in wholly new ways to meet emerging challenges around the water cycle. Globally, it is estimated that savings of up to £8.4 billion per annum may be realised through the adoption of smart water technologies to minimize operational inefficiencies and to maximize the effect of capital and operational expenditure.Reports by the Council for Science and Technology (2009), the Royal Academy of Engineering (2012) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (2012) have highlighted a particular shortage of engineers and scientists in industries of national importance, such as "energy, water, sanitation, communications and IT systems". The projected skills shortage in the IT sector in Europe (900,000 vacancies by 2015) has prompted the European Commission to launch a 'grand coalition' to tackle the shortage. It is difficult to envisage that the need for skilled engineers working at the interface of IT and water science and engineering disciplines will be met by IT graduates alone. The aim of the WISE CDT will therefore be to fill this skills gap by offering a postgraduate programme that fosters new levels of innovation and collaboration and trains a cohort of engineers and scientists at the boundary of water informatics, science and engineering. Furthermore, the WISE CDT will link with other traditionally separate disciplines, which are relevant to sustainable water management, ranging from statistics to social sciences, geography, psychology and economics.