**5. Conclusions and Forward Look**

A new world of innovative technologies has the potential to 'disrupt' traditional approaches to water resources management in large basins. The widespread operationalization of the fuzzy concept of IWRM is now within reach, with new ways to strengthen the information, institution, and investment foundations of IWRM.

Looking ahead, there are two mutually reinforcing aspects that will help make the rate of technological adoption exponential. First, technology is evolving at a blistering pace, dropping the costs for every process and enabling actions that were not even considered in the realm of possibility a few years ago. Second, the incremental adoption of some of these technological options in water resources planning and management are generating lessons that can inspire others to do even better as adoption spreads.

These changes are likely to lead to a new way of reconsidering data and analytical sovereignty as data and analytics (e.g., for droughts, floods, basin scenario planning) become increasingly global, fueled by machine learning that builds on opening up of data access for training. Water withdrawal and net consumption will be closely tracked and monitored (with a combination of in-situ sensors and Earth observation) to improve systems management and benchmarking. Large-basin analytics could become virtually free for users with global, regional, and national development agencies absorbing the costs of development and any subscription services. Services for end users (e.g., farmers) could also become free or low-cost services and help improve water management at the user level and deliver improved productivity.

Collectively, these changes can help to 'democratize' water management through improved access to data and information, but increased attention will need to be given to equity in technology access. Disruptive technologies will require adjustments to how water professionals are trained, an increasing adaptiveness in water resources planning and operations, and careful consideration of privacy and cybersecurity issues. Especially as the world struggles with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic experience, there is an increasing appreciation of the use of such new technologies to help conceive, remotely monitor, and manage water resource systems and related investments. Strong leadership to create an enabling environment to improve awareness and skills related to new technologies to realize the promised benefits and effectively manage risks is essential to facilitate this modernized approach to planning and managing large basins.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, N.R.H. and W.Y.; Methodology, N.R.H. and W.Y.; Writing—Original Draft Preparation, N.R.H.; Writing—Review and Editing, W.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Acknowledgments:** We thank three anonymous reviewers for improvements to the manuscript.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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