Water, Sewage & Effluent November December 2018 | Page 17
The Water Research Development
and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap, which
is essentially a planning tool that
guides the refocusing of research,
reprioritisation of funds, synergising
of existing initiatives, and ring-fencing
Past beneficiary
feedback results
Some of the key elements addressed
by the scholarship beneficiaries
revealed the true value of the transfer
of knowledge they had received
What the programme
aims to achieve
of new resources to facilitate a more
optimal water innovation system, was
launched in 2015 and the participation
through the Hitachi programme aids in
meeting the roadmap objectives.
As a short-term and high-impact
experience, the programme has
purposefully been focused on the
public sector to build capacity and skill
on the municipal level by exposing the
engineers to technologies that have
been successfully proven to achieve
efficient and effective results. The
experience also affords consideration
of various aspects of climate change
and the drive towards best practices
on an international level.
Through the interaction with various
disciplines throughout the municipalities,
the programme offers a solution to
transfer essentials skills and knowledge
of a bigger-picture view for the engineers
to better understand collective problem-
solving in meeting service objectives to
the people of the country.
More businesses and
government departments
should become involved
in partnerships like these
to promote valuable skill
development at all levels.
years, the scholars have been able to
successfully envisage, and implement,
new strategies in their areas of
expertise.
Over the past nine years, 30
engineers have effectively been
trained in cutting-edge technology
through the scholarship programme,
and of these 30 engineers, all were
under the age of 35. New ways of
thinking have been transferred, and
the links between planning and costs
have been refined, since droughts
and water shortages have been on
the South African doorstep. The
process of solving the problems has
become a huge priority under the
circumstances as municipalities juggle
the balls of capacity in managing
sludge, maintenance and ageing
infrastructure, and water leaks, which
create the unintended consequences
of a massive loss of revenue.
www.waterafrica.co.za
Water Sewage & Effluent November/December 2018
15
innovations
The 2017 beneficiaries each presented their proposals for implementing the ideas and technology that they had learnt about.