What Is an Appropriate Technology?

By Sara Delaney

At the launch of the new book Science and Innovation for Development on 19 January, co-author Sir Gordon Conway said: “It doesn’t matter where the technology comes from, it matters that it is appropriate.”

Too often international development researchers, policymakers, and practitioners get caught up in the source of a technology, and use this as the metric for whether it will be successful. The way a technology is designed, the country it comes from, the type of institution that produced it—while all important considerations—are not as important as whether the product is appropriate.

An appropriate technology is accessible, affordable, easy-to-use and maintain, effective— and most importantly, it serves a real need.

Click here to read full article on the World Watch Institue Blog…

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