USING ICT TO SUPPORT WATER SECTOR MONITORING : HOW UNDERLYING DRIVERS SHAPE INCENTIVES AND OUTCOMES

D. Schaub-Jones [South Africa]

L. Szczuczak [South Africa]

E. Ramsay [Vietnam]

SUMMARY

1. The use of new ICT tools to support water services provision is expanding rapidly

2. Paper looks at some of the drivers underpinning this trend

3. Suggests how these drivers need to be understood during the design of any ICT-based monitoring system.

SUMMARY4. Too often the focus appears to be on the tools &

not sufficiently on what the data gets used for

5. Not on how the provision of data can actually change the dynamics on the ground

‘Reality check’ to the implementation and adoption of ICT – making sure that the positive contributions are not lost through poor design or over-ambitious approaches.

CONTEXT

wave of urbanisationnot only the large mega-cities that are the poles of this

growth also the small- and medium- towns that are absorbing

expansion

telecoms revolutionrapid technology advance and societal uptakemid-2013 more Africans had mobile phone subscriptions

than had access to improved water sources

QUESTION …

Can technologies such as mobile phones and online databases, allied with better monitoring, significantly boost the performance of water providers?

DIFFERENT RATIONALES

Water services providers help streamline their operations bring management ‘closer to the

field’ more quickly identify and

respond to service delivery challenges.

Donor agencies ‘payment by results’ etc new ways of monitoring and

verifying impacts

National governments and regulators planning

track water services providers reduce time btw service delivery

challenges & responses improve quantity & quality of the

data collected

Civil society Boost transparency

Increase accountability of service providers

HOW DO ICT & MONITORING RELATE?Traditional Linear / closed flows of

information Rely on their data from field staff Specific reporting periods (daily,

weekly / monthly) Legacy IT systems (no ‘cloud’) or

manual processes Trickle up to senior management

( with delays) ‘Prepared briefs’ for regulator /

policymaker / donor

New Explosion in the data

that can be collected New avenues – smartphones,

basic phones, automatic gauges, smart meters

Near-real time data Higher quantity & quality

of data possible Collect info from range of actors

SEESAW SURVEY, 2012INNOVATIONS IN ICT USAGE IN THE WASH

SECTOR

Main drivers (Wat & San stakeholders to adopt ICT)

1. ICT improves access to information (which can improve decision-making);

2. ICT can bring immediate & long-term financial benefits; and

ICT also allows confidence-building between stakeholders, which contributes to greater responsiveness, mutual accountability and trust.

Sattler, 2012

Table 1. Main drivers for wanting better monitoring of water services (SeeSaw survey, 2012)

  Internal ExternalFinancial

Improve financial position:Attract investment

Control costs Improve revenue

 

Demonstrate performance:Payment-by-results Output-based-aid

Part of loan package

Efficiency

Improve internal efficiencies:

Internally championed benchmarking

Have field staff provide new or ‘real-time’ dataICT as an ‘HR tool’

 

External ‘efficiency’ impetus:

Formal regulation requires ICT Push from customers to adopt innovations

Externally imposed benchmarking

NB WATER SERVICE PROVIDERS (NOT NGOS,

REGULATORS, ETC)

CAUTION: A. Main drivers for better monitoring

quite different B. Important implications designing

‘monitoring systems’C. Way ICT tools will be used /

abused / ignored depends a lot onmotivations underlying monitoring

CASE STUDY: CWS IN GHANA

CWS (Community Water Solutions)Social enterprise Ghanaian women Small businesses Treat and sell water to local

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Entrepreneurs use basic phones To report to CWS field staff Specific operational challenges

DRIVERS = INTERNAL

Quicker reporting system More participatory reporting systemBetter oversight Improved efficiency

BENEFITS FOR CWS

Logistical & Financial

Space out their in-person visits to remote locations

Field staff respond faster to specific issues that would otherwise lead to downtime of services

DANGERS:

Motivation wanesPlatform not be adopted

or Platform does not contain useful,

timely and relevant information

Internal motivation strengthened as

benefits quickly & clearly visible

to both management

& field users

Users of ICT more likely to

inform design & suggest

improvements

CASE STUDY: CRA IN MOZAMBIQUE

CRA (Conselho de Regulação do Abastecimento de Água)

National regulatory body for the water sector

Design and pilot a monitoring system for small water schemes

DRIVER = EXTERNAL

Enforcement (stick and carrot)

Important thus to

Have ‘sympathetic’ design

Remove barriers to sending information

Cross-reference

KEY RISKS

Water Service Providers do not appreciate initiative

or

Do not find useful for own purposes

= > token efforts to provide

reliable and complete data

“rubbish in, rubbish out” Decisions risk being made on basis of :

unreliableout-of-date & / or incomplete data

Þ‘sub-optimal’ or Þnonsensical results

KEY LESSONS

USER-CENTRIC DESIGN

Understand motivations of key stakeholders to adopt monitoring tools

Design tools so they deliver value for them

If no internal motivation for adoption, then other measures needed

Listen to what users want and need and will find useful

Avoid broad assumptions about what ‘you think’ will be useful

Provide tangible benefits to those being asked to spend time using the system

RECOGNISE CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Buy-in at different levels of info flow Leadership commitmentQuick and visible benefits (“quick wins”)To sensible extent :

Build on what is thereUse existing assets Leverage good practiceFit system to users and not vice versa

UNDERSTAND INCENTIVES

Why will those who need to submit data do so?

What are incentives to provide reliableand timely data?

No ICT tool automatically solves all existing challenges

ICT helps identify and structure challenges BUT action needed to resolve them What incentives will turn information into action?

START WITH TRULY IMPORTANT & THEN GROW

Always temptation to ask for as much as possible = usually unrealistic

Posing great burden on those providing information will undermine motivation

(people faced with unreasonable or unmanageable requests may fail to provide even simple information)

Easier to start with a simple set of data and add on laterScaling up easier than scaling back An iterative approach to design and development Short and frank feedback loops from real users

BUILD A SYSTEM YOU CAN SUSTAIN OVER LONG-TERM

All systems have running costs ICT systems must evolve with the times (requires inputs

of time and money)People pay for what they perceive has value :

Is the ICT tool/service valuable or seen as valuable? Not an ‘essential need’, only a ‘nice-to-have’ => sustainability

of the tool/service will be in questionDirect monetary cost not the only consideration Effort in inputting data & processing data & acting upon

information => If costs are non-negligible, can the system be sustained?

CONCLUSIONS

1. Use of ICT tools alone cannot solve issues

2. Accompanying activities are required

3. Raise awareness about and to prioritise monitoring

4. Forge good communications between diverse role players

5. Put in place well-designed feedback loops

6. Commitment and capacity to turn data collection and interpretation into actions

WHEN SUPPORTED ICT TOOLS:

Highlight bottlenecks in deliveryOffer great scope for efficiency improvementsCan deliver better co-ordination Can improve financeEnable significant improvements in water services Provide means to cross-check information and

engage customers, citizens and other groupsEnable early or strategic intervention in areas facing

challenges