Global Water Center is forming a Standards and Best Practices Council to promote greater alignment around the standards that make water projects more efficient and sustainable.
Guiding this effort is Emile Coetzer, a Senior Digital Advisor who has spent the past eight years advancing information standards in the oil and gas industry. He also collaborates with the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers and several Standard Development Organizations to strengthen cross-industry data practices.
After more than 20 years in the oil and gas sector, Emile began asking a deeper question: What agenda am I working for?
“I am at the point in my career where I am thinking about my legacy,” he says. “I have had an incredible career in corporate America, but now I want to give back, to show what my value system is and use what I know in service of something bigger.”
Now Emile volunteers a few hours each week with GWC as our Strategic Advisor, Engineering and Standardization, helping define the Standards and Best Practices Council’s charter, clarify its purpose, and guide its early work.
For Emile, standardization is as much about people as process. “You cannot just tell people what to do,” he says. “You have to move them forward in a loving, gentle, respectful, ethical way. When we do that, we can all run together. Everybody wins if we are all doing the same thing the same way.”
His blend of experience and values-driven perspective makes him an ideal partner to help GWC shape the council and advance its mission.
“We are so grateful to have Emile join us,” said TJ Johnston. “He brings extraordinary engineering expertise, but even more importantly, a heart for collaboration and faith in what’s possible when people align around shared purpose. His leadership will help us set a higher standard for how the world works together to solve the water crisis.”
Through the Standards and Best Practices Council, GWC is building stronger standards, stronger partnerships, and a shared commitment to excellence across the water sector.