We are pleased to invite you to participate in the third IWA conference “WATER CHALLENGES IN XXI CENTURY” jointly organized by the Strategic Asset Management Specialist Group and by the Specialist Group on Statistics and Economics. The IWA Conference will be subdivided in two conferences: the 4^th International Conference on Water Economics, Statistics and Finance and the Conference on Infrastructure Asset Management and Utility Bankability. These two conferences will be held in parallel in the beautiful city of Livorno. The conference global theme, “ECONOMICS, STATISTICS, FINANCE, INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT AND UTILITY BANKABILITY”, underpins major challenges of water utilities around the world. Financial and operational sustainability of water services either in developed regions, emerging economies or developing countries is crucial, not only to assure adequate present and long term service levels, but also to attract financial resources needed for building, rehabilitating, refurbishing and renewing water infrastructures and assets. In fact, the failure to effectively connect capital to infrastructure projects is holding back progress in water supply and sanitation goals, in developing countries. On the other hand, in developed countries, water infrastructures are degrading and public and private utilities are facing a huge backlog of replacement costs and rehabilitation, due to a lack of sustainable asset management practices. The implementation of long-term strategic policies are missing. In this framework, during the conference, water policy-makers and regulators, utility managers, planners and operators, scientists and academics, investing institution professionals, engineering developers and contractors, consultants and other water professionals from all over the world are invited to reflect, debate and present state-of-the art keynotes related to the improvement of water infrastructures’ performance and sustainability, in a global context of increasing risks and complexity.