Category: WASHTech

Technovation Rush: Are developing countries ready?

by Takudzwa Noel Mushamba, WASH & Infrastructure Coordinator at Danish Refugee Council / Dansk Flygtningehjælp

re-posted from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/technovation-rush-developing-countries-ready-takudzwa-noel-mushamba/

Failure of technological innovation in the water and sanitation sector.
Across the globe there is growing momentum to address emerging and traditional threats to the water and sanitation sector through innovative technology. As a result, without thinking twice governments and practitioners have jumped on to the technology bandwagon. In the last decade there have been massive investments in technological innovation in the sector in developing countries. Furthermore, there are numerous articles that narrate how technology can help advance the water and sanitation sector in the developing world. There is no doubt there are some benefits emanating from the use of technology be it ICT or new technology introduced to operate and or manage water and sanitation systems. Regardless, the question is to what extent is the technology in question effective and is it introduced at right time?

Continue reading “Technovation Rush: Are developing countries ready?”

Webinar 16.11.2016 / Webinar el día 16.11.2016 – “A tool for Monitoring the Scaling up of Water and Sanitation Technologies”

Texto en español más abajo

From the RWSN secretariat we herewith announce the latest webinar of our mini-series 2016, which will take place on 16.11.2016. The title of the event is “A tool for Monitoring the Scaling up of Water and Sanitation Technologies (TAF – Technology Applicability Framework)” and it will focus on the use of the TAF, which has been presented and discussed previously in this Dgroup. The session will take place in English (2-3 PM Central European Time, please check your local time here) and in Spanish (4-5 PM Central European Time, please check your local time here). We are happy to announce the two presenters and the titles of their presentations:

  • Joshua Briemberg, WaterAid, Nicaragua: TAF as a participative planning and monitoring tool
  • Younes Hassib, GIZ, Germany: Scaling up sanitation solutions in Afghanistan

After the two presentations, you will have the chance to ask questions and participate in the on-line Q&A session and discussion around this topic.

Please use this link in order to register for the sessions.

Recordings and presentations of previous sessions of this mini-series of webinars are available for download and viewing here.

Continue reading “Webinar 16.11.2016 / Webinar el día 16.11.2016 – “A tool for Monitoring the Scaling up of Water and Sanitation Technologies””

Roll out of technology applicability tool in Tanzania to assure sustainable WASH services

Lack of proper operation and maintenance (O&M), lack of participatory planning procedures, lack of flexibility to apply different management models for water supplies and inappropriate technology choices are among key issues identified which hindered sustainable WASH services during the Water Sanitation Development Plan (WSDP) Tanzania. The results of the national water point mapping clearly highlights the fact that more than 30% of all water points are not working.

To overcome these issues the leading Ministry of Water (MoW) in Tanzania included various measures in the design of the 2nd phase of the WSDP.

Continue reading “Roll out of technology applicability tool in Tanzania to assure sustainable WASH services”

December 11, 2013 Webinar – Introducing and scaling up sustainable water and sanitation technologies

WASHTech, THE project (2011-2013)

TAF website logo v3The WASHTech Consortium is organising a webinar to introduce the WASHTech’s tools and launch the online resource base

Wednesday 11 December, 12.30-13.30 pm CET

Register here

Background

This webinar introduces two new tools that will help to select water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) technologies that keep working. The first, the Technology Applicability Framework (TAF), has been extensively tested and is now available on www.washtechnologies.net. A second, complementary tool, the Technology Introduction Process (TIP) provides guidance on the roles and activities needed for successful scaling up of technologies.

The TAF manual, questionnaires, Technology Introduction Process guidelines and other key publications are provided as public domain and can be accessed through www.washtechnologies.net. This resource base also provides a platform for sharing experiences on the application of the TAF after completion of the WASHTech project in December 2013.

Programme

  • Evolution of key tools-  the Technology Applicability Framework and the Technology Introduction…

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Visit to Water Missions – Deep South Innovators

Andrew Armstong at Water Mission headquarters
Andrew Armstrong at Water Missions headquarters

This year I was fortunate enough to attend the ‘Water & Health Conference’ at UNC, North Carolina, USA again. I was running a side event on WASHTech, and my partner in crime was Andrew Armstrong, Water Missions’ community development programs manager who gave a great presentation on the experiences of Water Missions in introducing solar water pumping and water pre-payment systems in Uganda.

On Monday 21st October, after the conference, I was in Charleston, South Carolina, standing in large a naval dockyard surrounded by towering steel cranes and fat oil depot tanks. On one side of the sparse car park was a sizeable array of solar panels and opposite was long, low warehouse on which the name “Water Missions International” was emblazoned in precise, blue lettering.

I was shown around the Water Missions International facility by Andrew. There are 27 staff based in this location and numerous volunteers. The building acts an office, workshop, storage area and display area, the latter being open to groups to visit and find out about their work.

Water Missions was created in 1998 in the wake of Hurricane Mitch, which devastated much of Central America, particularly Honduras and Nicaragua.  After running operations out of their environmental engineering firm for a few years, the founders sold their company in 2001 and set up the charity and today they work in Belize, Indonesia, Malawi, Mexico, Uganda, Haiti, Kenya, Tanzania, Peru and Honduras.

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WASHTech Burkina Faso : The final sprint has begun!

also visit the new TAF website: http://www.washtechnologies.net

WASHTech, THE project (2011-2013)

A few months remain before the end of the WASHTech project in Burkina Faso. The project team composed of the Burkina Faso Offices of Intergovernmental Panafrican agency Water and Sanitation for Africa (WSA) of Water-Aid and IRC, steps on the accelerator to finalize the remaining activities before the end of the project in December 2013.

Among the key activities at the end of the project, there’s the organization of a national training workshop for actors in the WASH sector that will be driven by the the Department of Studies and Information one Water (DEIE). The objective of this workshop is to present the achievements of the project including tools Technology Assessment Framework (TAF) Technology Introduction Process (TIP) and strengthen their capacity to use these tools. The impacts of the project in Burkina Faso after three years of implementation will be presented. This national workshop is scheduled to take place in…

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TAF to be tested on other technologies Rwenzori region

WASHTech update from Uganda

WASHTech, THE project (2011-2013)

A comment from the recently concluded Hand Pump Mechanics Association Learning Visit to Rwenzori region indicated the need for the Technology Applicability Framework (TAF) to be tested on existing technologies in the region like the Manual drilling rig. This was  raised after a presentation made by NETWAS Uganda at the learning journey about the progress of the TAF. The suggestion was later lauded by HEWASA, a local NGO promoting manual drilling in Rwenzori who indicated that in order to scale up their technology, there was need for recommendations from the TAF.

The HPMA learning visit was organized to provide learning for the social, economic and technical transformation of the HPMAs functionality in Northern Uganda. And to be able to use the knowledge acquired to improve sustainability of water supply systems in the region. This gathering attracted 40 participants from regions of North, West and Central.

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NETWAS Uganda to sensitize stakeholders on need to have sector specific Guidelines for Technology Introduction

Uganda WASHTech update

WASHTech, THE project (2011-2013)

In Uganda the water and sanitation sector is not short of new and emerging technologies, however, there is no clear process of technology Introduction, adoption and upscale. Noticeable is Minimal contribution to the Millennium Development Goals. A key constraint to reaching the sector targets therefore appears to be the lack of systems to assess the potential of a technology and take it to scale effectively.

The Water Sanitation and Hygiene Technologies (WASHtech) project seeks to address the problem through research to assess the potential and sustainability of a wide range of technologies and design strategies for scaling up.

WASHtech has in the past 2 years conducted a stakeholder Knowledge Attitude and Practice (KAP) study aimed at assessing WASH technology introduction and approval process in Uganda, conducted a review of WASH technologies on their appropriateness and suitability.

Last year the project finalized the process of developing a robust Technology Assessment Framework…

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WASHTech at the IRC symposium in Addis Ababa

WASHTech presentation at Monitoring Symposium

WASHTech, THE project (2011-2013)

With two presentations and a pre-launch side event, WASHTech was well represented at the IRC Monitoring Sustainable WASH Service Delivery symposium. The symposium and side events took place from 9-12 April 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Introducing the TAF

André Olschewski (Skat) and Benedict Tuffuor (TREND Ghana) gave a general introduction to the Technology Applicability Framework (TAF) in a special session on the enabling environment. The session included a presentation on another tool, the Sustainability Monitoring Framework developed by the Dutch WASH Alliance.

Both presentations prompted a discussion about the number and variability of sustainability and how all these tools fit together. The presenters stressed that both tools fit in wider thinking around sustainability in the sector. Even though the tools are being developed in parallel, they both attempt to simplify the analysis of complex, variable data.

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Understanding the Technology Assessment Framework (TAF)

Update on WASHtech

WASHTech, THE project (2011-2013)

“Let’s invite WASHTECH to apply the TAF tool on this Household Water Treatment and Storage (HWTS) technology, the communities choices system, to determine whether it needs to be scaled up”. This came up at the 26th edition of the National Learning Alliance Platform meeting, which recently took place in Accra on theme, Household Water Treatment and Storage Strategy in Ghana.

Members of the WASHTech learning alliance at the meeting had to respond by further explaining and updating stakeholders on the project and the TAF. Abu Wumbei of the WASHTech Ghana team explained that the TAF was indeed a tool that could be used to assess the said HWTS technology, but that the tool was currently being tested on some selected technologies; and that these will enable the fine-tuning of the tool to suit the local situation and context. Thereafter, according to him, the tool will be in full operation; owned…

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