However, the development and/or adoption of ICT-focused water innovations in
developing countries does not seem to occur at the expected pace, which calls for
suitable innovation approaches. This chapter investigates how these innovations can
be fostered through partnerships. The explorative analysis of 24 ICT-focused water
innovation partnerships (ICT-WIPs) implemented in Africa leads to two important
findings. First, it appears that these partnerships enable effective exchange of
complementary tangible and intangible resources and co-creation of ICT-focused
water solutions in a cost-effective and timely manner but also pose collaboration
challenges due to the heterogeneity of innovation partners. Second, the analysis
demonstrates the importance of concurrent use of relational (trust-based) and structural (legally binding control-based) partnership governance mechanisms to mitigate
these challenges, notably by reducing opportunistic behaviours and increasing
clarity of partners’ commitments and rights. We conclude that well-designed
and -implemented ICT-WIPs can contribute to enhancing the capabilities of developing countries to implement the smart water systems agenda.
Keywords ICTs, Innovation partnerships, Smart water systems, VIA water
1 Introduction
Access to water is indispensable for achieving sustainable development and has been
acknowledged as a fundamental human right [1]. However, due to global challenges
such as climate change, rapid urbanisation and population growth, water systems
around the world are increasingly getting stressed, which threatens water security,
particularly in developing countries [2, 3]. As argued by the World Economic Forum
[4], water crises will be among the greatest social risks for the coming years.
Already, 10 years ago the UN-Water and FAO [5] claimed that the world was facing
a crisis of water security as globally roughly 1.2 billion people experienced water
scarcity problems. Current predictions also show that by 2050, at least one in four
people are likely to live in a country with a shortage of freshwater [6].
In view of these global challenges, sustainable water management is more
needed today than ever. Over the past years, “smart water systems” have emerged
and got promoted as a potential approach to ensure wise management of water
resources, particularly in developing countries [7]. Also referred to as “ICT-enabled
systems”, the purpose of smart water systems is to increase efficiency in water
management by deploying solutions provided by Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs). This is achieved notably by enabling constant generation and
transmission – to relevant stakeholders – of real-time data and information related to
all aspects of the water cycle, which enables knowledge-based decisions and realtime solutions to the challenges faced by water systems [8, 9]. The areas in which
ICTs can bring improvements in water management include, but are not limited to,
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S. Mvulirwenande and U. Wehn
developing countries does not seem to occur at the expected pace, which calls for
suitable innovation approaches. This chapter investigates how these innovations can
be fostered through partnerships. The explorative analysis of 24 ICT-focused water
innovation partnerships (ICT-WIPs) implemented in Africa leads to two important
findings. First, it appears that these partnerships enable effective exchange of
complementary tangible and intangible resources and co-creation of ICT-focused
water solutions in a cost-effective and timely manner but also pose collaboration
challenges due to the heterogeneity of innovation partners. Second, the analysis
demonstrates the importance of concurrent use of relational (trust-based) and structural (legally binding control-based) partnership governance mechanisms to mitigate
these challenges, notably by reducing opportunistic behaviours and increasing
clarity of partners’ commitments and rights. We conclude that well-designed
and -implemented ICT-WIPs can contribute to enhancing the capabilities of developing countries to implement the smart water systems agenda.
Keywords ICTs, Innovation partnerships, Smart water systems, VIA water
1 Introduction
Access to water is indispensable for achieving sustainable development and has been
acknowledged as a fundamental human right [1]. However, due to global challenges
such as climate change, rapid urbanisation and population growth, water systems
around the world are increasingly getting stressed, which threatens water security,
particularly in developing countries [2, 3]. As argued by the World Economic Forum
[4], water crises will be among the greatest social risks for the coming years.
Already, 10 years ago the UN-Water and FAO [5] claimed that the world was facing
a crisis of water security as globally roughly 1.2 billion people experienced water
scarcity problems. Current predictions also show that by 2050, at least one in four
people are likely to live in a country with a shortage of freshwater [6].
In view of these global challenges, sustainable water management is more
needed today than ever. Over the past years, “smart water systems” have emerged
and got promoted as a potential approach to ensure wise management of water
resources, particularly in developing countries [7]. Also referred to as “ICT-enabled
systems”, the purpose of smart water systems is to increase efficiency in water
management by deploying solutions provided by Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs). This is achieved notably by enabling constant generation and
transmission – to relevant stakeholders – of real-time data and information related to
all aspects of the water cycle, which enables knowledge-based decisions and realtime solutions to the challenges faced by water systems [8, 9]. The areas in which
ICTs can bring improvements in water management include, but are not limited to,
168
S. Mvulirwenande and U. Wehn