Conference to be held Oct. 28–30, 2025 in Buford, Georgia. The call for presentation abstracts is now open, and sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities remain available. For details, visit http://www.theh2otower.org/dcs-water-25.
BUFORD, Ga., June 4, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- As water and wastewater treatment plants grow increasingly digitized, they face a rising threat of sophisticated and targeted cyberattacks that can cause service disruptions, infrastructure damage and compromised water quality. To address this risk, The Water Tower—a first-of-its-kind global water innovation hub—and iTrust Labs, a center for cyber security research at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, will co-host the Second International Conference on the Design of Cyber-Secure Water Plants (DCS-Water '25) Oct. 28–30, 2025, in Buford, Georgia. DCS-Water '25 will bring together a wide range of experts to co-create solutions for the water sector's unique cybersecurity challenges.
Jointly organized by these like-minded international partners and building on the success of the inaugural event in 2024, the conference will accelerate the development and deployment of advanced strategies—from AI-driven threat detection and digital twins to zero-trust architectures and cyber-physical testbeds—designed to secure water utilities at scale.
"Protecting our water supplies from cyber threats is an existing challenge that is only going to worsen," said Melissa Meeker, CEO of The Water Tower. "Our hope is that through this event and other training opportunities, we can help get critical information and training to small rural utilities and larger utilities, allowing them to stay ahead of this threat."
Water facilities—essential to public health, economic activity and environmental stability—rely on complex industrial control systems (ICS), including programmable logic controllers (PLCs), sensors, networked control platforms and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) environments. While these technologies enable efficient, automated operations, they also introduce critical vulnerabilities that adversaries can exploit. With IT (information technology) and OT (operational technology) systems converging and interconnectivity growing, traditional perimeter defenses are no longer sufficient.
By fostering collaboration across disciplines and sectors, DCS-Water plays a crucial role in building resilient, trustworthy, and intelligent water systems for the future. Jianying Zhou, a professor and center director of iTrust, emphasized the benefits of cross-sector collaboration noting, "This is indeed a unique event that connects professionals from industry, researchers from academia, and representatives from government agencies to tackle the increasing cyber threats to the water sector by sharing opinions, providing technical approaches, and offering hands-on training."
DCS-Water '25 will feature presentations from U.S. and Singapore government officials, international universities, consultants, engineers and frontline utility professionals. On Oct. 30, attendees can join a hands-on Cyber Defense Training Session—a red-blue team exercise in hacking and defending a water or wastewater plant.
Aditya Mathur, a professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, added, "We are excited to co-organize this event, which builds off our experiences conducting international cyber training exercises. The specific focus on water facilities is essential as we empower utilities to meet cyber threats head-on."
The call for presentation abstracts is now open, and sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities remain available. For details, visit http://www.theh2otower.org/dcs-water-25.
About The Water Tower
The Water Tower Global Innovation Hub, located in Gwinnett County, Georgia, U.S., is building a thriving ecosystem of innovation driven by water challenges, informed by research, and powered by people. The Water Tower brings together industry leaders, utilities, private companies, NGOs, and academic institutions to accelerate the development and implementation of innovative water solutions. By fostering collaboration, advancing digital transformation, and bridging the gap between research and real-world application, The Water Tower is shaping a more sustainable and resilient water future. Learn more at http://www.theh2otower.org.
About iTrust Centre for Research in Cyber Security
iTrust was jointly established by the Singapore University of Technology and Design and the Singapore Ministry of Defence in 2012. One of iTrust's core focus is to apply and improve its understanding of cyber threats to cyber-physical systems (CPS) and develop translatable technologies to mitigate such threats. iTrust's approach is based on well-understood technical foundations in the interdisciplinary fields of control theory, artificial intelligence, axiomatic design and software engineering. The proposed models and techniques are being evaluated against,and demonstrated in our industrial-grade CPS testbeds: Secure Water Treatment (SWaT), Water Distribution System (WaDi), Electric Power and Intelligent Control (EPIC), and Maritime Testbed of Shipboard Operational Technology (MariOT). Learn more at https://itrust.sutd.edu.sg.
Media Contact
Kristan VandenHeuvel, The Water Tower, (470) 822-0503, [email protected], https://www.theh2otower.org
SOURCE The Water Tower
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