Sensors for clean water: a participatory approach for technology innovation

获得清洁的水是生命的基础。据估计，每年有150多万5岁以下儿童因饮水不安全和缺乏基本卫生设施而死于腹泻病。因此，确保提供清洁水是低收入国家面临的一项重大挑战。然而，获得安全饮用水仍然是全球面临的一项挑战。例如，在瓦努阿图，5000户家庭依赖未经改善的河流、湖泊或泉水。其结果是腹泻率很高。在瓦努阿图各地提供清洁用水尤其具有挑战性。这部分是由于分布在瓦努阿图80个岛屿上的许多农村社区在地理上是孤立的。瓦努阿图也是世界上最易受灾害影响的国家，自然灾害易感性高，应对能力低。例如，在热带气旋帕姆（2015年3月）之后，三分之二的水和卫生基础设施被摧毁，一半的人口在一个月内没有干净的饮用水。我们研究的目的是与瓦努阿图受这一问题影响最严重的贫困社区合作，以开发水监测技术，为他们的饮用水安全提供保证。传统的技术开发方法是代表人们开发技术，而不是与社区一起或由社区开发技术，这种方法的影响往往有限。我们计划采取一种不同的方法，我们称之为综合参与式技术开发（iPTD）。iPTD将社区嵌入到技术创新过程的每个阶段，从定义初始技术规范，到设计、测试和优化。通过从一开始就与社区合作，我们将确保传感技术的设计精确地满足社区的需求、技能和环境。

Access to clean water is fundamental for life. It is estimated that more than 1.5 million children under five years old die every year from diarrhoeal diseases due to unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation. Ensuring the provision of clean water is thus a crucial challenge in low income countries. Yet access to safe drinking water continues to be a challenge globally. For example, in Vanuatu, five thousand households depend on unimproved river, lake or spring water. A consequence of this is a high rate of diarrhoea. Providing clean water across Vanuatu is particularly challenging. This is partly due to the geographical isolation of the many rural communities spread across Vanuatu's 80 islands. Vanuatu is also the most disaster prone country in the world, with a high susceptibility to natural disasters and a low coping capacity. For example, following Tropical Cyclone Pam (March 2015) half the population was without clean drinking water for one month after two thirds of water and sanitation infrastructure was destroyed.The aim of our research is to work with poor communities in Vanuatu most affected by this problem, in order to develop water monitoring technologies that will provide assurance about the safety of their drinking water. Traditional approaches for technology development, where technologies are developed on behalf people, rather than with and by communities, tend to have limited impact. We plan to take a different approach, an approach we call Integrated Participatory Technology Development (iPTD). iPTD embeds communities at every phase of the technology innovation process, from defining the initial technology specification, through to design, testing, and optimization. By working with communities from the outset, we will ensure sensing technology that is designed precisely to meet the needs, skills and environment in which the community live.