Press Release

"Hitachi Alumni and Top European Scientists Debate Water Management"

June 2002, Budapest - On 24-26 May 2002 Hitachi Ltd. has organised the 5th EU Hitachi Science & Technology Forum during which water issues and their impact on society were discussed.

The annual forum brings European scientists (Hitachi alumni) who have participated in Hitachi Research Visit Programmes (long term internships or joint research partnerships in Hitachi laboratories or plants in Japan) together with leading experts from academia, industry, the European Commission and from Hitachi. The objectives are to share knowledge and provide a platform for debate. This year's Hitachi Science & Technology Forum has been chaired by Dr. Peter Literathy, former director of the Budapest based Water Resource Research Center, who is a leading expert in water management.
This type of Forum underlines Hitachi's commitment not only to build long term relationships with its alumni but also by using their expertise to contribute to policy debate in Europe. The latter also played a role in selecting the city of Budapest to organise the Forum. Besides the presence of the Danube - which related directly to the topic - attention was given to the enlargement issue which dominates today's European politics.

The topics for this year's Forum included Water and sustainable development and Integrated Water Management. Parallel working sessions were held on Water and agriculture, Water and the environment and Water and consumers. The full proceedings of the debate will be published next month and widely distributed.
The EU Hitachi Science and Technology Forum enables us to harness the collective expertise of the Hitachi alumni in a positive way that benefits society as a whole. One of the key-issues focussed on the different challenges facing today's water industry, which lead to the overall conclusion that effective water management is of vital importance for Europe.