Technology and open data key to improving water management, say experts

"Imagine this: while strolling to your local park, you come across a huge puddle and spot water gushing out from a burst main. You take out your mobile phone, photograph the leak and email or text the picture to your local water authority. Returning home a little later, you see engineers working on the pipe and you get a text message telling you a crew has been sent out to fix the problem. If you think this sounds like a scene from an ideal world, think again. It could be happening right now in Nairobi, Kenya, where water authorities have introduced a platform – called Maji Voice – through which Kenyans can communicate quickly and directly with their water company via text message or the Internet, and vice versa. Technologies like this, which connect governments, regulatory bodies and water consumers, could bring vast improvements to the water and sanitation sector worldwide, said industry experts at World Water Week, a forum held in Stockholm to explore water-related challenges. 'The long-term potential of technology is in governance,' Jaehyang So, manager of the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP), said on Wednesday at the event. 'It is the fastest and most direct link for governments to be in touch with their citizens and for citizens to give feedback.' A range of low-cost applications that use mobile phones, cameras and geo-referencing maps are increasing transparency in the sector and changing the way water is governed. Modern technology can speed up the exchange of information between citizens and governments or service providers and can help inform decision-making and responses at the local level ..."