strategy
Providing access to appropriate technology
Synonyms:
Facilitating use of appropriate technologyPromoting appropriate technologies
Promoting sustainable technologies
Context:
Intermediate technology, later designated appropriate technology, was popularized in the early 1970s as being a technological level somewhere between traditional and modern (conventional and emerging) technologies There is no universally accepted definition of appropriate technology, but usually, compared to modern technologies, it is characterized by all or most of the following attributes: it is labour-intensive; its productivity is on smaller scales; it is ecologically "friendly"; it requires less demanding worker and managerial skills; it utilizes more local inputs; it requires a lower investment per job created. Appropriate technology has been criticized for not accomplishing enough to benefit the poor. Implementation:
This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.For organizations promoting technological development in developing countries, such as the Intermediate Technology Development Group, Volunteers for International Technical Assistance, and scores of other agencies, its shortcomings appear to have been largely overcome. It is suggested that the sizeable and growing arsenal of appropriate technologies should be taken seriously in any process of screening and selecting technologies for poverty-related projects.
Counter Claim:
Its application had a checkered record in the early days and, all too often, successes were very geographically circumscribed or confined to a single application; any spread to alternative uses and the development of complementary innovations was not always in evidence. Yet, appropriate technology might well be a valuable tool for combatting extreme poverty; high-impact appropriate technologies include: systems for delivering micro-loans like those inspired by Bangladesh's Grameen Bank; bamboo tube wells in southern Asia; improved cook-stoves in China. Furthermore, appropriate technology had been hampered by a disinclination to commercialize the venture and a tendency to connect such technology with a subjective vision of a proper life-style rather than to the effectiveness of technology. Broader:
Developing appropriate technologyDeveloping appropriate technologyImproving access to technologyPromoting environmentally sound technologiesAdvocating sustainable developmentDisseminating energy technologies Narrower:
Exchanging appropriate technologyEasing burden of obtaining environmentally sound technologyFacilitating transfer of environmentally sound technologiesStrengthening local capacity to adapt appropriate technologiesReducing barriers and providing incentives for transfer of environmentally sound technologyEstablishing clearing houses for environmentally sound technologySupporting use of environmentally sound technologyImproving conditions for environmentally sound technologySupporting research and development of environmentally sound technologyEmploying appropriate technology Facilitates:
Monitoring desertificationProviding environmental assistance to developing countriesProviding incentives for industry to use cleaner production technologyUsing sustainable technologiesUsing renewable energy resourcesDeveloping environmentally sound technologiesDeveloping sustainable transport systems in citiesPromoting sustainable energy consumption Facilitated by:
Exchanging information about environmentally sound technologyAllowing for evolving code of conduct on transfer of environmentally sound technologyEducating about alternative technologyIdentifying sustainable technology information gaps Organizations:
Asian Alliance of Appropriate Technology Practitioners Asian Institute for Rural Development International Development Research Centre Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Center for Meso American Studies on Appropriate Technology Handicap International Healthlink Worldwide Auroville Foundation References:
Stewart, Frances: Macro-Policies for Appropriate Technology in Developing CountriesDiwan, I and Rodrik: Patents, Appropriate Technology and North-South Trade Subjects:
Communication → PromotionTechnology → Technology
Type Classification:
E: Emanations of other strategies Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
