The Citizen Field Engineer: Crowdsourced Maintenance of Connected Water Infrastructure. Scenarios for smart and sustainable water futures in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Sustainable water supply is a profound problem in slums in Nairobi, Kenya. Smart water management that integrates information and communication technology (ICT) to monitor water resources, diagnose problems, improve efficiency and coordinate management can help to overcome supply challenges as well as strengthen public participation in governance. This study applies scenario planning methodology to analyze the potential of a novel smart water concept, Citizen Field Engineer, to address water challenges in Nairobi's slums, for example problems with water pollution and intermittent supply. The concept combines multi-functional sensors to monitor water supply with an innovative ICT-based governance model where residents in the local community are employed as service engineers. Looking at how this concept would apply in Nairobi's slums, the scenario analysis suggests that the concept could potentially help to improve water availability, affordability and quality, including gender equality as women bear the main responsibility for collecting water. The analysis also suggests that an implementation of the concept could have a positive impact on children's school attendance as water related diseases are an important factor behind low educational attainment. The study concludes that smart water management that integrates ICT is an important step to address challenges around sustainable water supply.