innovation project. In project/programme management literature, these partners are
generally referred to as project stakeholders. In the context of ICTs and smart water
management, ITU [71] describes a stakeholder as “. . .any individual, group, or
institution that has a vested interest in smart water management by being potentially
directly or indirectly affected by its projects, activities, policies, and/or has the ability
to influence smart water management’s outcomes”. In the ICT-WIPs analysed in
this study, the non-implementing partners consist of a wide variety of actors spanning from customers and users of innovations
4 to government organisations
(e.g. municipalities), water service providers, water regulatory agencies, ministries,
funders (including donors) and so on.
It has been observed that in developing countries, the promotion of ICTs in the
water sector is still heavily reliant on external (donor) funding mechanisms [10]. In
that regard, the ICT-focused water innovations analysed in this chapter are not an
exception: in each project, the main funding mechanism is through the VIA Water
seed capital fund. Thus, the donor organisation is generally described as a “funding
partner”. However, the VIA Water programme is not just a funding mechanism: it
functions as an incubator and is thus involved at different stages of the innovation
process, not in the implementation of the projects per se but through a variety of
support services (e.g. coaching, training and networking) provided to the partnerships. A detailed analysis of the innovation support services provided by VIA Water
can be found in Mvulirwenande et al. [66].
The analysis of the VIA Water ICT-WIPs shows that lead innovators tend to be
mainly enterprises, most of which are of small and medium size (or SMEs).
5 These
are followed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), consulting companies and
universities and research institutes. Figure 4 displays the relative importance of the
different lead innovators in the partnerships analysed in this chapter. Conventional
innovators – notably universities, research institutions and large companies – are not
well-represented in the VIA Water-supported partnerships. Our analysis further
shows that lead innovators are mostly foreign organisations or local organisations
established and owned by foreign entrepreneurs. For example, the three academic
and research institutions are all Dutch: Delft University of Technology, IHE Delft
Institute for Water Education and Deltares. Many of the enterprises (SMEs) and
NGOs also either come from the Netherlands (e.g. Royal HaskoningDHV, Mobile
Water Management, Orvion B.V, BoP Innovation Center) or are locally registered
4 In this chapter, we distinguish between “end-users” (or simply users) and “customers” of an
innovation. The former term refers to a person or entity that uses an innovation (e.g. product), and
the latter refers to a person or entity that purchases it. Note that in some cases, the end-user and
customer of an innovation are the same (e.g. a water utility purchasing low-cost sensors and using
them to detect leakages in its distribution network), while they are different in other cases (e.g. an
NGO purchasing a mobile application for a selected number of citizens who then use the application
to share data and information about water issues in their community).
5 Small and medium enterprises (SME) – the European Union defines these as enterprises employing
fewer than 250 persons and have either an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million or an
annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.
Promoting Smart Water Systems in Developing Countries Through. . .
187
generally referred to as project stakeholders. In the context of ICTs and smart water
management, ITU [71] describes a stakeholder as “. . .any individual, group, or
institution that has a vested interest in smart water management by being potentially
directly or indirectly affected by its projects, activities, policies, and/or has the ability
to influence smart water management’s outcomes”. In the ICT-WIPs analysed in
this study, the non-implementing partners consist of a wide variety of actors spanning from customers and users of innovations
4 to government organisations
(e.g. municipalities), water service providers, water regulatory agencies, ministries,
funders (including donors) and so on.
It has been observed that in developing countries, the promotion of ICTs in the
water sector is still heavily reliant on external (donor) funding mechanisms [10]. In
that regard, the ICT-focused water innovations analysed in this chapter are not an
exception: in each project, the main funding mechanism is through the VIA Water
seed capital fund. Thus, the donor organisation is generally described as a “funding
partner”. However, the VIA Water programme is not just a funding mechanism: it
functions as an incubator and is thus involved at different stages of the innovation
process, not in the implementation of the projects per se but through a variety of
support services (e.g. coaching, training and networking) provided to the partnerships. A detailed analysis of the innovation support services provided by VIA Water
can be found in Mvulirwenande et al. [66].
The analysis of the VIA Water ICT-WIPs shows that lead innovators tend to be
mainly enterprises, most of which are of small and medium size (or SMEs).
5 These
are followed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), consulting companies and
universities and research institutes. Figure 4 displays the relative importance of the
different lead innovators in the partnerships analysed in this chapter. Conventional
innovators – notably universities, research institutions and large companies – are not
well-represented in the VIA Water-supported partnerships. Our analysis further
shows that lead innovators are mostly foreign organisations or local organisations
established and owned by foreign entrepreneurs. For example, the three academic
and research institutions are all Dutch: Delft University of Technology, IHE Delft
Institute for Water Education and Deltares. Many of the enterprises (SMEs) and
NGOs also either come from the Netherlands (e.g. Royal HaskoningDHV, Mobile
Water Management, Orvion B.V, BoP Innovation Center) or are locally registered
4 In this chapter, we distinguish between “end-users” (or simply users) and “customers” of an
innovation. The former term refers to a person or entity that uses an innovation (e.g. product), and
the latter refers to a person or entity that purchases it. Note that in some cases, the end-user and
customer of an innovation are the same (e.g. a water utility purchasing low-cost sensors and using
them to detect leakages in its distribution network), while they are different in other cases (e.g. an
NGO purchasing a mobile application for a selected number of citizens who then use the application
to share data and information about water issues in their community).
5 Small and medium enterprises (SME) – the European Union defines these as enterprises employing
fewer than 250 persons and have either an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million or an
annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.
Promoting Smart Water Systems in Developing Countries Through. . .
187