Application of ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation in the Water Sector: Developing country experiences and emerging research priorities

T he focus of the reports gathered here is how information and communications technologies (ICTs) can be used to help communities in developing countries facing water stress adapt to climate change. The role and potential of ICTs in helping communities employ innovative approaches to prepare for, respond and adapt to climate change are increasingly being recognised. Within the water sector, ICTs can contribute towards improvements in water resource management techniques; strengthen the voice of the most vulnerable within water governance processes; create greater accountability; provide access to locally relevant information needed to reduce risk and vulnerability; and improve networking and knowledge sharing to disseminate good practices and foster multistakeholder partnerships, among others. While drawing on current experiences in the field of water management and sustainability, the perspective of the authors is primarily from the ICT for development (ICT4D) sector. Because of this the reports should be considered exploratory, offering a fresh perspective to the field of water security in vulnerable contexts. The reports are the result of work commissioned by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), which had the key objective of informing the research support agenda of the IDRC in the field of ICTs, climate change and water. The collaboration between the IDRC and APC involved several activities, including regional research in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Africa and Asia, a call for projects working in the field to share their experiences (see the Appendices) and a workshop held in Johannesburg on 7-10 July 2011. Participants at the workshop were from around the world and were invited to discuss the implications of using ICTs to help vulnerable communities facing water stress adapt, and to begin shaping a research agenda in the field. While water management and sustainability is a specialist concern with its own body of evidence that has emerged over time, the interface of ICTs, climate change and water arguably poses new theoretical challenges and practical gaps. For one, there are not enough projects practically demonstrating the positive potential and innovative impact ICTs can have at the grassroots level in managing water resources. While a number of projects do exist, they are not yet widespread enough to meet the adaptation needs of communities facing water crises given the impact climate change is already having at the local level. At the same time, the ICT4D sector itself has only recently seen a wider consideration of how cliApplication of ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation in the Water Sector: Developing country experiences and emerging research priorities