A) General Information
Target responders: WATERVERSE Pilot Participants
You have been invited to participate in a research activity conducted by the project Water Data Management Ecosystem for Water Data Spaces – WATERVERSE, coordinated by the Centre For Research and Technology Hellas - CERTH. WATERVERSE is an EU funded project (Grand Agreement No.: 101070262, Call: HORIZON-CL4-2021-DATA-01, Topic: HORIZON-CL4-2021-DATA-01-03) concerning the development of a Water Data Management Ecosystem (WDME) for making data management practices and resources in the water sector accessible, affordable, secure, fair, and easy to use, improving usability of data and the interoperability of data-intensive processes, thus lowering the entry barrier to data spaces, enhancing the resilience of water utilities and boosting the perceived value of data and therefore the market opportunities behind it.
WATERVERSE takes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach in the water domain, blending complementary competencies of 17 partners located in 10 EU countries, representing the water domain with Research organisations (including social sciences experts), water utilities, water domain technology providers and innovation companies, as well as the technical community that is driving the development of data spaces, thus increasing the resilience of the water sector and water utilities as a whole. The project will:
(a) Actively engage end-users and stakeholders to assess the main gaps and challenges the water sector must overcome to effectively be part of and contribute to quality European data spaces.
(b) Identify, extend, and integrate a wide set of data management tools to implement the WDME, based on FIWARE (www.fiware.org) Building Blocks and comprising tools and methods to ensure security and energy efficiency of the whole WDME.
(c) Setup and demonstrate the WATERVERSE WDME in real environment with relevant and diverse case studies involving water sector stakeholders from 6 countries (Cyprus, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, United Kingdom).
(d) Set clear and measurable indicators for assessing FAIRness of data in water-related data spaces.
(e) Ensure the viability and sustainability of the WATERVERSE WDME, as well as its replicability, scalability and business applicability.
M4D, the participating team from CERTH, is responsible for the coordination of the project activities in order to assure the excellence of the project outcome by managing the project to time and budget, coordinating the activities, monitoring and adjusting the implementation plan if needed, and by monitoring the data management and the ethics. Moreover, the research activities of M4D group are focused on cybersecurity solutions tailored to the water sector and on the data compatibility with existing data models, also including satellite data and information from social media platforms for enhanced interoperability.
The project started on the 1st of October 2022, and it will be concluded on the 30th of September 2025.
- Aims of the Research Activity
The activity covers the pilot execution and the relevant feedback collection process, through surveys, interviews, focus groups and/or workshops. The purpose of the feedback collection activities is to <e.g., collect feedback from the end-users and stakeholders of the WATERVERSE WDME about the usability, accessibility, reliability, etc.>. The analysis and consideration of the feedback will facilitate the refinement of the WDME, which will help the WATERVERSE project to achieve its set objectives and deliver a high-quality result. This analysis is in alignment with the original purposes of the project and will be exploited within the duration of project. In case of the survey results’ exploitation beyond the duration of the project a separate consent form will be prepared and provided to users that will respond to the dedicated survey.
- Time and Location of the Activity
The WATERVERSE pilot execution and the feedback collection will cover the period October 2023 to September 2025.
- What will I be asked to do?
Before – Prior to the activity you will be contacted to confirm your participation, receive information and sign the present consent form.
During – You will be asked to take part in the pilot scenarios, which will involve attending the pilot premises and taking actions in the framework of the scenarios and providing feedback. The sessions may be video and/or audio recorded. During the execution of the pilots and the feedback collection process, the pilot participants will be asked to provide certain personal data (i.e., name, surname, affiliation, professional background, knowledge and skills related to the piloted tools and their scientific background, feedback related to their use of the tools, etc.). In some cases the data will be collected through printed forms, while in other cases the data will be collected through online surveys/questionnaires.
After – You will be asked to fill in evaluation questionnaires, participate in feedback sessions, and provide oral and written feedback about your participation.
- How will the information provided/my contribution be used?
The information collected during the pilot iterations of the project will be gathered and used to contribute towards the completion of the project, its reports and a number of journal and conference publications. In addition, the information will be used to analyse the pilot feedback and provide input to the technical teams for the refinement of the tools, as well as to the exploitation teams for the preparation of appropriate exploitation plan.
- Is my participation mandatory?
It should be highlighted that your participation is completely voluntary, and you can withdraw at any time of the process without providing any reason and without any negative consequences for you.
For this objective, please contact the responsible pilot contact persons for your country, whose contact details can be found at the end of this document. After contacting them, you might be asked whether you would like to permanently delete your data or if you consent to continue processing these data. You are also able to raise any objections or lodge a complaint to the relevant DPO/authorities. In addition, you might be asked for the reason why you would like to withdraw from the research, but you are not obliged to respond. You are free to also decide the questions you are going to answer during the feedback session.
Under no case will the participation be obligatory for any of the employees of the pilot partners or the employees of the third organisations supporting the pilots. The employees-data subjects are voluntarily invited to participate in the present research, and they are free to deny any participation. No negative repercussions will follow any withdrawal of the research. There will also be no preferential treatment to those agreeing to participate over those who do not. Finally, no additional monetary compensation is foreseen.
- Benefits and potential risks of my participation
Although there will be no immediate benefits from participating in this research, the outcomes will contribute to enhancing the European Union’s Data Management approach in Water Data Spaces. You will also have the chance to interact with other experts on the field and exchange ideas and inputs, around important issues on Data Management approach in Water Data Spaces.
No physical harm, damage or risk is expected to be inflicted on you. In all arrangements of the Multi-Stakeholder Forums the COVID-19 restrictions and instructions (or any other relevant) will be taken into account and be fully implemented. Personal details will not be used during or after the feedback collection sessions, other than by the organisers, to contact you in relation to your participation or if you wish to be contacted about anything after the activity. Nothing in your responses will be linked or used with your name or any other identifying information. All the recordings will be retained securely by the project team and will not be linked with other identifying information. Access to any personal information you provide, will be limited strictly to the people involved in the research directly (please check also the exact clarifications given below for the collected data and the security related to them).
- How can I get in contact to discuss my participation?
Please feel free to get in contact at any time using the contact details included below, per pilot country, through which we would be more than happy to discuss any queries or concerns that you might possibly have.
Pilot 1: Netherlands
Organisation Issues
- Eric de Vos (PWN) - eric.de.vos@pwn.nl
- Siddharth Seshan (KWR) - siddharth.seshan@kwrwater.nl
Technical Issues
- Dave Ebbelaar (PWN) - dave.ebbelaar@pwn.nl
- Siddharth Seshan (KWR) - siddharth.seshan@kwrwater.nl
Pilot 2: Germany
Organisation Issues
- Fernando López (FIWARE) - fernando.lopez@fiware.org
- Hasan Hüseyin Dönmez (HST) - hasan.doenmez@hst.de
Technical Issues
- Fernando López (FIWARE) - fernando.lopez@fiware.org
Pilot 3: Cyprus
Organisation Issues
- Natasa Neocleous (WBL - Head of Technical Services) - natasan@wbl.com.cy
- George Milis (PHOEBE) - george.milis@phoebeinnovations.com
Technical Issues
- Solomos Charalambous ( WBL – Senior Engineer) - solomos@wbl.com.cy
- Alexis Kyriacou (PHOEBE) - alexis.kyriacou@phoebeinnovations.com
Pilot 4: United Kingdom
Organisation Issues
- Katie Parker (SWW) - kparker@southwestwater.co.uk
- Lydia Vamvakeridou-Lyroudia (KWR) - lydia.vamvakeridou-lyroudia@kwrwater.nl
Technical Issues
- Gareth Lewis (EXETER) - G.Lewis2@exeter.ac.uk
- Geoff Mandeno (SWW) - gmandeno@southwestwater.co.uk
Pilot 5: Spain
Organisation Issues
- Javier Haro (HIDRALIA) - javier.haro@hidralia-sa.es
Technical Issues
- Sergi Baena (CETAQUA) - sergio.baena@cetaqua.com
- David Aguilera (CETAQUA) - david.aguilera@cetaqua.com
Pilot 6: Finland
Organisation Issues
- Juha-Pekka Soininen (VTT, Principal Scientist) - juha-pekka.soininen@vtt.fi
- Noora Liljanto (KEYPRO, Customer success manager) - noora.liljanto@keypro.fi
Technical Issues
- Nam Le (KEYPRO, Technical product manager) - nam.le@keypro.fi
- How can I find out about the outcomes of this activity/research?
The results of the WATERVERSE pilots will be shared among pilot partners and supporting organisations by the end of the WATERVERSE project, i.e., by Sept 2025.
Data Protection Issues
Any personal information that we collect from you will be in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, under Art. 6(1)(a). We are not able to collect anything without your consent, which is the legal foundation for collecting and storing personal information in relation to this activity/event. If the event is audio recorded, this is classified as personal data and will also only be collected with consent.
What personal information will be collected and who will have access to them?
The Consortium is only collecting and processing personal data in connection with the research’s informed consents within the project’s timeframe. Only information necessary to the research aims will be collected and processed, according to the Data Minimization principle, as required to achieve the purpose of this research activity. Also, you will not be subject to any decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.
[Please here list the exact data you are going to collect and process along with the reason why they are being collected e.g.:
- Full name, in order to come back to you in case any further clarification is required
- Professional affiliation, in order to identify for which components, we should contact you for feedback based on your professional background and experience.
- Gender, in order to ensure that our research is gender-balanced
- Contact information, in order to keep you updated on the research’s outcomes
- Photographs, video, or audio recordings might be acquired, upon your explicit consent during your participation in this research (e.g., audio recordings, video recording of participation in the demonstration, etc.).
In addition, when accessing online surveys, information is automatically sent to the website’s server by the browser used on your end device. This information is temporarily stored in a ‘log file’. The following information is collected without any action on your part and stored until it is automatically deleted:
- anonymised (= truncated) IP address of the accessing machine;
- date and time of access;
- name and URL of the file retrieved;
- size of transferred data;
- whether or not the download was successful;
- website from which access is made (referrer URL); and
- browser used and, if applicable, your machine’s operating system and the name of your access provider.
The specified data is processed by us for the following purposes:
- to ensure that a smooth connection is established with the website;
- to guarantee the convenient use of our service;
- to evaluate system security and stability; and
- for other administrative purposes.
No further use of your information will take place without your written permission. These data will be strictly retained as confidential and will not be shared outside of the Consortium UNLESS it is required to share your information with the European Commission/national authorities as a part of our obligations.
Only the pilot responsible organisations will have confidential access to your personally identifiable data. Specifically, the authorised personnel of the organisations, who are directly involved in the project as indicated below, along with the respective DPOs.
Pilot 1: Netherlands
Responsible Organisations
-
PWN (https://www.pwn.nl/)
-
KWR (https://www.kwrwater.nl/en/)
DPO: +++++
Pilot 2: Germany
Responsible Organisations
-
HST (https://hst.de/)
-
FIWARE (https://www.fiware.org/)
DPO: +++++
Pilot 3: Cyprus
Responsible Organisations
-
WBL (https://www.wbl.com.cy/el/page/home)
-
PHOEBE (https://www.phoebeinnovations.com)
DPO: +++++
Pilot 4: United Kingdom
Responsible Organisations
-
South West Water (https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/)
-
University of Exeter (https://engineering.exeter.ac.uk/research/cws/)
-
KWR (https://www.kwrwater.nl/en/)
DPO: +++++
Pilot 5: Spain
Responsible Organisations
-
HIDRALIA (https://www.hidralia-sa.es/datos-significativos)
-
CETAQUA (https://www.cetaqua.com/en/cetaqua-the-water-technology-centre/)
DPO: +++++
Pilot 6: Finland
Responsible Organisations
-
Keypro (https://www.keypro.fi/en-gb/keyaqua)
-
VTT (https://vttresearch.com/)
DPO: +++++
How is the security of my personal data being ensured?
To begin with, before the start of the activity, you will be provided with this information sheet and you will be asked to sign a consent form, where all your rights are being described (Section: My Rights). All personal data are processed in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679).
After the end of the activity, all personal data will be immediately transferred to encrypted and/or secure and password protected servers or devices. If we use a mobile device to record data, we are making sure that we are transferring the collected data to secure servers or devices as soon as possible. All recordings will be deleted in five years after the end of the project in order to be able to fulfil reporting obligations to the European Commission.
The signed informed consent will be safely stored in the project’s secure cloud services, based on the relevant confidentiality agreements of the coordinator (CERTH) for five more years after completion of the project in September 2025 in order to be available for demonstration in case of an inspection or an audit. Then, they are going to be destroyed with paper shredders and no digital copies will be kept, in additional servers or communication channels.
Before data can be used, they will be depersonalised, unless there is an explicit agreement with the research participant that says otherwise, e.g., in the case of photos. The transcripts will delete/modify any information that would enable you to be identified (names, locations, etc.) directly, by inference or by association. This Anonymisation/pseudonymization will be complete and irreversible as the original audios will be destroyed.
Details of any insurance indemnity for the research
According to GDRP Article 23 the Union or Member States are authorised to take legislative measures to restrict the scope of certain data protection rights and obligations. During the pilot activities, there is a possibility of the following incidental findings to emerge, with the subsequential mitigating actions to be in place:
a) in case of interviews/focus group discussions etc, potential incidental findings may be:
- Unintentional disclosure of information that pose imminent danger to humans. - Mitigation plan: The researcher will end the research activity and will contact any legal and emergency services.
- Unintentional disclosure of information that do not pose imminent danger to humans, but they still present ethical and legal concerns (related to criminal activities etc.). - Mitigation plan: The researcher will inform the participant that they have disclosed some piece of information that may need to be further disclosed due to ethical and legal concerns. Then he/she will inform them that either the research activity can be ended (with their personal data to be erased) or can be continued. Either way the researcher will provide them with all the relevant information on where they can seek and find support, underlining that none of their personal information will be disclosed.
b) In case of tools and demos etc, the incidental finding may be:
- Unintentional detection of illegal activity. - Mitigation plan: the person will be handed over to the present national police who will carry out standard operational procedures determined by regulations on the given case, and all relevant data has to be secured/encrypted and handed over to the police as evidence.
- Unintentional capturing of personal data that may result in the identification of individuals not involved in the project. - Mitigation plan: these will be immediately isolated and erased from all storage devices.
- Illegal activity that was intentionally enacted by a person working in the project with the sole purpose of testing the system and has been detected by the system, - Mitigation plan: the local practitioner authority (e.g., National Police) will issue this person with a Letter of Commission stating that he or she has performed the action resembling an illegal act for the sole purpose of testing the system. No further action is required.
Finally, it is important to point out that the WATERVERSE research activities will not involve any clinical trials.
Participants’ rights
- Right to information: you may request information about whether we hold personal information about you, and, if so, what that information is and why we are holding it.
- Right to decline: you may decline to offer any particular information requested by the researcher
- Right to access: you may access your data and ask for copies of your data whenever you wish to.
- Right to rectification: you may ask us to rectify the information you have provided us in case you consider that something is missing or is incorrect.
- Right to erasure: you may ask us to erase your personal data at any given moment without a specific reason.
- Right to object: you may request to stop processing your personal data and withdraw from the research at any desired moment before the anonymization of your data. You may also lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority.
- Right to data portability: you have the right to request the transfer of your personal data to another data controller in an electronic and structured form to you or to another party.
- Right to withdraw: you may have the opportunity to withdraw from the pilot at any time with no adverse consequences
Contact details
For more information on WATERVERSE, you should contact the Project Coordinator (Ilias Gialampoukidis, Senior Researcher at CERTH, heliasgj@iti.gr)
For more information about the collection and processing of personal data in the WATERVERSE project, you should use the contact details above mentioned per pilot site for the DPOs.
For more information on the specific pilot site’s activities you should use the contact details above mentioned for pilot organisation and technical aspects.
