Posts byFelix Knipschild

Felix graduated in 2016 from Delft University of Technology and has been A) compiling and analysing Water Point Data use cases to improve drinking water services, WADA/IRC, B) advising on accelerating national and subnational WASH monitoring for improved asset management and service delivery (WCARO), IRC/UNICEF, and C) analysing information systems and monitoring & evaluation of small towns in Ethiopia (OneWASH Plus), IRC/UNICEF

Partnership with Wattopia

In 2015 WASHNote initiated a partnership with Wattopia (before: Sustainability Services).  Wattopia aims to effectuate the energy transition in the Dutch built environment by building transition tools. The company works on a sustainable, affordable and attractive living environment and is driven by the challenges formed by the energy transition: moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, aiming to fulfill our commitments to the Paris Agreement.

Wattopia works together with local and regional governments, building companies, housing corporations, knowledge institutes, and suppliers. Wattopia operates at the level of neighborhoods, houses, and components within the houses. Products that were developed by Wattopia recently include the design and development of a quality mark for sustainable housing, an API design for standardization of monitoring energy performance in houses, and an in-depth process design that describes how a district can move away from the use of natural gas.

Since 2015, WASHNote and Wattopia have been innovating research and data infrastructure for market development, research and transition management towards more sustainable futures in WASH and energy. We share staff time, research infrastructure and develop joint concepts around data and sustainable services.

Interview with Alexander Fischer from Oxford University

Date of interview: 2017/06/07

During the development of the white paper “Harnessing Water Point Data to Improve Drinking Water Services”, WASHNote spoke to Alexander Fischer, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Oxford, at the time researching drinking water security, application of geospatial information systems, and sustainable resource governance. Complementary to the use of national water point atlases, the local context of the data matters.

“I’m interested in the characteristics and elements of the institutional change, specifically around the value of water point data in this process. I hope to find ways to enhance the scope and use of standardized water point data across multiple scales of decisionmakers, including local level service enterprises. In most regions of Bangladesh, for instance, water quality and specifically arsenic testing of tubewells, is a critical variable for drillers, users, and regulators whereas non-functionality rates are comparatively lower and secondary water points in close proximity.”

 

 

References
WASHNote