Dassault Systèmes Unveils “Water for Life” Water Conservation Program

Dassault Systèmes has unveiled “Water for Life,” the next act in its “The Only Progress is Human” campaign to increase awareness of societal and environmental challenges and inspire the use of virtual worlds to drive sustainable innovations. “Water for Life” combines the themes of water and consumption to explore how industry can consume smarter and protect water, which is reportedly threatened by overconsumption. 

The campaign is part of the company’s commitment to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in particular SDG 6 to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”  

Through “Water for Life,” Dassault Systèmes will help its customers address this challenge from three angles: measure and optimize, innovate and create, and educate. First, it will drive the 3DEXPERIENCE platform as an accelerator for measuring and optimizing the water footprint of businesses by providing customers with integrated industry solutions that deliver data on the water consumption associated with the experience they are creating and the impacts of various design options. In the future, artificial intelligence-generated recommendations will guide them toward the creation of new and more sustainable products, services and experiences.  

Dassault Systèmes will also support the idea of a water handprint through its 3DEXPERIENCE Lab. This will be achieved by using collective intelligence to accelerate disruptive innovations such as EEL Energy that transform processes in industries needing to reduce their water consumption, as well as by reinforcing this engagement with a partnership of incubators worldwide such as OceanHub Africa. 

Lastly, it will nurture educational programs that aim to increase awareness of major water-related issues and inspire future generations to conserve this key resource, such as the Mission Ocean project in France that is supported by La Fondation Dassault Systèmes. 

“The world is recognizing the urgency of preserving water and moving toward a new era of responsibility and sustainability. Industry has its role to play in this ‘UN Decade to Deliver,’” says Bernard Charlès, vice chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “Virtual universes are a key enabler for our customers to imagine, design and test the radically new products, materials and manufacturing processes needed in tomorrow’s more sustainable economy. Through new industry solutions, we can become the world’s number one partner for a more sustainable industry renaissance that meets Paris Agreement goals.”  

Water is vital to life, yet overconsumption of water to produce the goods and services the world uses every day may jeopardize its availability, according to Dassault Systèmes. Reportedly, more than 40% of the world’s population is affected by water scarcity. In line with its SDGs, the UN declared a Water Action Decade from 2018 to 2028 focused on the sustainable development and integrated management of water.  “Water for Life” aligns with this movement as well as the company’s recent commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative, and its role as official supporter of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures. 

“Water for Life” was officially launched in a video featuring Charlès alongside the professional explorer and adventurer Mike Horn, who share the same passion for water conservation. 

“As a professional explorer,  I witnessed firsthand how human activities directly impacted the state of our Earth. It is crucial for humans to take care of it, and more importantly in preserving water, our most precious resource,” says Mike Horn. “I am happy that not only the UN, NGOs and politicians meet this goal but also that industrial leaders like Bernard Charlès, CEO of Dassault Systèmes stress the importance of this key topic.” 

Launched in February 2020, “The Only Progress is Human” communications campaign is engaging the public through a series of “10 Acts” that illustrate how virtual twin experiences can be used to create human-centric and real-world experiences that address each Act’s challenge. The first Act focused on the challenge, “How can virtual worlds change the way we experience emotions?” through a musical and visual experience called “Virtual Harmony” that featured the 3Dvarius, the first 3D-printed electric violin, which was designed using Dassault Systèmes’ solutions.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.

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