Technology

Finding the best fit

For services to be sustainable the underlying technology must: function well and have operation and maintenance requirements that can be met by the users and service providers and it must be acceptable to users and appropriate for the environmental setting. Unfortunately, too often political promises and assumptions about user needs or willingness to pay result in the selection of WASH technologies that don't meet these criteria.

Systematically reviewing factors that may affect the sustained use and maintenance of different technologies is a critical step in selecting the most appropriate technology for a particular context. Such a review and selection can take place at village or district level. A similar process needs to take place at sector level to identify technologies appropriate for inclusion in national norms and standards.  

Tools & guidance

IRC together with partners has developed two tools to support better technology selection and introduction.

The Technology Applicability Framework (TAF)

The Technology Applicability Framework (TAF) helps to evaluate the applicability, scalability and sustainability of a specific WASH technology in a specific context and to gauge the readiness for its introduction.

The TAF can be used to:

• Support discussions and information sharing on WASH technologies and approaches to scaling up;
• Assess the potential of a specific technology with respect to applicability, scalability, sustainability and uptake in a specific context;
• Assess readiness of a sector to scale up a specific technology including identification of potential measures for improving uptake; and
• Monitor performance of a technology and its introduction process.

The Technology Introduction Process (TIP)

The Technology Introduction Process (TIP) provides guidance on how to successfully introduce a new technology. The TIP outlines the possible actors involved and key tasks for each phase of the process. For each application, the generic tasks need to be adapted to country-specific conditions. The TIP also provides guidance on institutional set-up and funding for technology introduction process and its follow up.

Resources