of the country. To correct this, the lead innovator had to broaden his focus to
include other key staff members of the working partner who made the processes
smoother and quicker than before. This experience suggests that lead innovators
should target not just top managers of their potential partners. Instead, they
should aim to create a multilayered network in their partner organisations so as
to lower the risks that the partnership activities will be disrupted should a key
contact be reassigned or leave the organisation. In other partnerships, the interviewees reported cases of partners who did not contribute resources in expected
quantities and qualities – e.g. supply of poorly performing technology,
secondment of low calibre staff to joint innovation project teams.
– Ambiguity of partnership objectives: this challenge was reported in one partnership in Ghana. In an interview with one partner, it was disclosed that lack of
enough consultation among partners led to an ICT application with a lot of
problems (as it looks now). The final project report states that the project was
supposed to develop a tool that enables citizens to become more flood resilient,
which the project succeeded to do. But this report further suggests that there were
clarity problems among the partners, not only of partnership objectives but also of
expected contributions (lack of understanding about who was expected to bring
what to the partnership), which led to poor cooperation.
6 Discussion
In the context of globalised and competitive world, organisations increasingly
innovate in partnership with others (and with relevant stakeholders such as customers/users) in order to bridge their resource gaps and thus produce cost-effective
and timely innovations. Drawing on evidence from the VIA Water-supported
ICT-focused water innovation projects, the explorative research reported in this
chapter sought to generate insights into how to best foster smart water systems in
developing countries through innovation partnerships. We did this by using the
lenses of innovation theories, notably open innovation [24] and innovation systems
[35] theories, and governance perspectives [43, 44]. The analysis was based on
24 ICT-focused water innovation partnerships (ICT-WIPs) developed and
implemented in seven African countries (Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Mozambique,
Benin, Senegal and Mali). The analysis generated several insights that could inform
and guide efforts aimed to form and execute successful innovation partnerships for
smart water management. We discuss these below.
The study results show that of the 25 ICT-focused water innovation projects
supported by VIA Water, 24 involve at least 1 partner. These were the focus of this
study. The partnerships analysed generally distinguish between two categories of
partners – implementing partners and non-implementing partners (or stakeholders).
The major motivation for the partnering organisations appeared to be the search
for complementary resources between them. This finding is consistent with the
assumptions made in the open innovation (and resource-based view) literature
Promoting Smart Water Systems in Developing Countries Through. . .
195
include other key staff members of the working partner who made the processes
smoother and quicker than before. This experience suggests that lead innovators
should target not just top managers of their potential partners. Instead, they
should aim to create a multilayered network in their partner organisations so as
to lower the risks that the partnership activities will be disrupted should a key
contact be reassigned or leave the organisation. In other partnerships, the interviewees reported cases of partners who did not contribute resources in expected
quantities and qualities – e.g. supply of poorly performing technology,
secondment of low calibre staff to joint innovation project teams.
– Ambiguity of partnership objectives: this challenge was reported in one partnership in Ghana. In an interview with one partner, it was disclosed that lack of
enough consultation among partners led to an ICT application with a lot of
problems (as it looks now). The final project report states that the project was
supposed to develop a tool that enables citizens to become more flood resilient,
which the project succeeded to do. But this report further suggests that there were
clarity problems among the partners, not only of partnership objectives but also of
expected contributions (lack of understanding about who was expected to bring
what to the partnership), which led to poor cooperation.
6 Discussion
In the context of globalised and competitive world, organisations increasingly
innovate in partnership with others (and with relevant stakeholders such as customers/users) in order to bridge their resource gaps and thus produce cost-effective
and timely innovations. Drawing on evidence from the VIA Water-supported
ICT-focused water innovation projects, the explorative research reported in this
chapter sought to generate insights into how to best foster smart water systems in
developing countries through innovation partnerships. We did this by using the
lenses of innovation theories, notably open innovation [24] and innovation systems
[35] theories, and governance perspectives [43, 44]. The analysis was based on
24 ICT-focused water innovation partnerships (ICT-WIPs) developed and
implemented in seven African countries (Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Mozambique,
Benin, Senegal and Mali). The analysis generated several insights that could inform
and guide efforts aimed to form and execute successful innovation partnerships for
smart water management. We discuss these below.
The study results show that of the 25 ICT-focused water innovation projects
supported by VIA Water, 24 involve at least 1 partner. These were the focus of this
study. The partnerships analysed generally distinguish between two categories of
partners – implementing partners and non-implementing partners (or stakeholders).
The major motivation for the partnering organisations appeared to be the search
for complementary resources between them. This finding is consistent with the
assumptions made in the open innovation (and resource-based view) literature
Promoting Smart Water Systems in Developing Countries Through. . .
195