Dr. David Kilcullen, who founded and chairs Cordillera Applications Group from Denver and is considered one of the world’s leading experts on counterinsurgency, took part on May 4th in the Idrica Water Security Day Middle East, a digital meeting on security organized by the Spanish water technology company Idrica.
Idrica is one of the world’s leading water security companies. It has a team of 180 professionals spread over three continents optimizing digital processes to manage the integral water cycle.
During the live discussion, the military author and expert warned that “access to water is one of the leading indicators of the extent of impact of coronavirus; after COVID-19 we are going to see much more fragile urban environments”.
“We are starting to see significant security implications in countries that have been affected by coronavirus. We can expect that populations will blame, punish and defy governments at all levels, including human security crisis, internal instability or even international conflict,” he alerted.
In his speech, Kilcullen, who has just launched the book “The Dragons and the Snakes: how the rest learnt to fight the West”, explained that “water crisis immediately become triggers for security breakdowns, and the use of technology to optimize and improve access to hydric resources is key”. Kilcullen served in Baghdad as a member of the Joint Strategic Assessment Team, and as Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor, Iraq’s multinational force in 2007, before becoming Special Counterinsurgency Advisor to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2008.
Based in Valencia, Spain, Idrica provides services and implements a proprietary technological solution called GoAigua. At the event, Kilcullen spoke with Idrica’s CEO, Jaime Barba, and Qatari communicator Sarmad Qazi.
Barba, a specialist in innovation and technological development applied to the water sector, explained that, throughout this crisis, “we have been lucky enough to have all the technology available to deal with COVID-19. We have been able to quickly offshore the service and to operate the network with the new patterns of consumption”.
“Holistic solutions crossing data from laboratories, with work orders of the field team, analytics of samples’ results and models of the sewage network, plus coordination with governments are going to be key to alert the presence of the coronavirus in sewage systems,” Barba said. Although he explained the importance of dealing with cyberattacks that target critical water infrastructure, Idrica’s CEO demanded protection plans against possible new waves.
He added that Idrica’s technology in laboratories allows for warnings of the presence of the coronavirus in the sanitation system up to five days before it spreads, and that water data is more important than ever in order to prevent health crises. “The pandemic has taught us the need to increase technological processes in the management of water systems,” he stated.
About Idrica Water Security Series
The Idrica Water Security Series are a series of digital meetings sponsored by Idrica to bring together the world’s leading experts on water security. The first of these events focused on Latin America, brought together Dr. Judith Dominguez, one of the leading experts in the field and researcher at El Colegio de Mexico, and academic and internal security expert Roman D. Ortiz.
During Idrica Water Security Day Middle East, one of the most relevant worldwide military experts, Dr. David Kilcullen, dialogued with Jaime Barba about water and conflict in a post COVID-19 Middle East. The page of the event includes the materials and video of the online meeting.
