Abstract
This chapter plugs into a wider debate on digitalization and sustainable development in the Global South. Evidence on how digitalization contributes to sustainable development is limited. To address this research gap, we employ the theoretical concept of frugal innovation to identify nuances regarding the opportunities and challenges of frugal digital technology for realizing different Sustainable Development Goals in the Global South. Based on a qualitative case study of Futurepump—a frugal (i.e., simple, affordable, and accessible) version of a smart water pump—we provide empirical evidence on how frugal digital innovation offers opportunities and challenges for development in the Global South obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews. Our results show nuances regarding different sustainability dimensions, actors (e.g., smallholders, distributors, research institutes, and funders), and the geographical interactions between actors in the Global South and Global North.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Palgrave Handbook of Sustainable Digitalization for Business, Industry, and Society |
| Editors | Myriam Ertz, Urvashi Tandon, Shouheng Sun, Joan Torrent-Sellens, Emine Sarigöllü |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Chapter | 4 |
| Pages | 63-82 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-031-58795-5 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-3-031-58794-8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-careOtherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
Keywords
- Digitalization
- Frugal digital technology
- Frugal innovation
- Global South
- Sustainable development
- Water pump