Digital innovations and water services in cities of the global South

By Godfred Amankwaa (University of Manchester) |

There is no doubt that digital water — the use of digital technologies in the water sector — is growing, with evidence of widespread adoption and use across countries. Many water service providers are investing in new technologies not only to improve infrastructure performance and enable existing systems to operate more efficiently, but also to make new service delivery models possible.  However, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the hype and hope of digital technologies to tackle water sector challenges, especially in developing countries. It is in this context that we are witnessing a growth of interest in the discussion, evidence case studies and research on digital water in the global South. How have digital water innovations (DWIs) been implemented and what has been the impact?  And how is the growing implementation of digital water innovations in global South cities researched?  This paper presents a first systematic literature review of  urban digital water innovations in the global South, analysing a total of 43 papers using a range of thematic categorisations.