The Water Institute of Madrid, a project of scientific excellence and technological impact, has driven the Community of Madrid (CM) towards an excellent situation to consolidate its position as a national and international reference in the integrated water management field.

The Institute arises from the linking among research groups generated from the DGUI (Directorate General for Universities and Research) programs call. In a laudable effort to coordinate the most important groups of the CM to approach problems that they could not achieve separately, several research programs have emerged. The CM is leaning on three of these programs, in which 14 groups working in water research are participating, to establish a more solid structure dedicated to approaching complex problems like the integrated water cycle. The problems attached to the water management are of such a nature that the existence of the Institute would not have sense without the participation of companies from the sector.

With the mission of the creation of cost-effective and sustainable solutions for all the water problems, the goals or the Institute are:

• The integrated development of the platform of knowledge, on both the human and technological levels, and the 3D management model which will be used for managing the research, the innovation, the development, the constant market orientation and the public service of the organization.
• To create a team humanly, technically and commercially coordinated in all the actions and projects.
• To create an international reference of research, innovation and market business management, especially designed for water technologies.
• To know how to properly manage the research, innovation and service projects portfolio in a way that the requirements of short investment return periods do not sacrifice the long-and medium term growth of the Institute both through research, development and innovation projects or other public service-orientated non-profitable activities.
  

The scientific program of the Institute will be based on the development of four main strategic lines for the integrated water management:

• The sustainable exploitation of the resource
• The preservation of the water mass quality
• The treatment and later reuse
• The economic and social value of the water
  

The scientific-technical activities will be mainly developed starting from the particular research of the participating groups of the Institute and will deal with the application of the knowledge generated by them in the research lines of the Institute. These activities will be directed towards both the development of a model of research management able to incorporate creativity within the four suggested lines and the achievement of practical and innovative solutions to the water problems of the society.

In a parallel way, we will carry on the necessary activities to get practical benefits from the results of the scientific-technical actions. These activities will be distributed into four main groups: display, transference, diffusion and training.