Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia// — The Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO), the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), the Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDI), and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) announced the launch of Future Makers: AI Challenge for Critical Sustainability, an open innovation challenge mobilising innovators across DCO Member States to develop and validate AI-enabled solutions for water resilience.
Under the central question, “Can AI help secure the future of water?”, this open innovation challenge invites innovators, researchers, startups and technology teams from across DCO Member States to apply fit-for-purpose AI-enabled solutions to address global priority water-sector challenges.
The challenge is designed to identify solutions with the potential to optimise water systems, reduce water losses and energy consumption, improve operational and resource efficiency, strengthen circularity, and build greater resilience across the water value chain.
Future Makers is delivered through NexaBridge, DCO’s open innovation initiative connecting real-world challenges with innovators and creating scalable pathways from solution development to market.
The Critical Sustainability challenge represents the first activation of the Future Makers model, demonstrating how government priorities, research capabilities and cross-border innovation ecosystems can be brought together to accelerate applied innovation.
This open innovation challenge supports the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ambitions under Saudi Vision 2030 and its national water priorities. Saudi Arabia’s continued investment in digital transformation, sustainability and emerging technologies provides a strong foundation for applying AI to critical water challenges.
This direction is reflected in DCO’s Digital Economy Navigator (DEN), a comprehensive framework that assesses countries’ digital economy maturity and tracks how digital transformation contributes to economic and societal development.
DEN 2025 highlights the Kingdom’s strong foundations across areas including digital infrastructure, innovation and digital sustainability, reinforcing the opportunity to translate this digital maturity into practical solutions that strengthen resource efficiency, environmental sustainability and water resilience.
Applications are open to innovators, researchers, startups and technology teams across DCO Member States with AI-enabled solutions capable of addressing the identified water-sector challenges. Applications close on 4 October 2026.
Interested applicants are encouraged to review the challenge requirements and submit their applications through: https://stride.dco.org/application-definition/1004.
