“Why bother about WASH technologies? Current discourse is on sustainable service delivery monitoring and governance. Many WASH technologies, such as the India Mark II handpump and the VIP latrine, were successfully adopted and have improved the lives of millions. However, not all promising WASH technologies invented or introduced have provided sustainable services. And most technology does not function all of the time. These are lost opportunities..”. André Olschewski of the Skat Foundation wrote this in his blog post TAF & TIP: Why bother about technologies?.

The WASHTech project looks into technologies and its objective is to strengthen sector capacity to make effective investment in new ones. The project has developed a framework called the Technology Applicability Framework (TAF) which will help assess the potential of new innovative technologies in local contexts. Key criteria such as how the technology performs, where the technology can be applied, whether buyers and consumers are interested in it and whether it is sustainable over time, are looked into. Technologies that are likely to perform well against a range of criteria can be piloted and scaled up using the Technology Introduction Process (TIP) guide.

IRC hosted a webinar on the TAF and the TIP to give participants the opportunity to discuss both tools and ask questions. All information on this webinar is available online.