Promotion of manual drilling in Guinea Bissau: mapping suitable zones and estimating the potential

Guinea Bissau has made large strides in water supply, but still 35% of villages have no access to safe water. UNICEF is promoting alternative solutions to ensure a proper water supply in these small communities, for example manual drilling. For these reason a mapping study to identify suitable zones for these techniques has been carried out in 2016, using existing groundwater data and the experience from local experts. 88% of Guinea Bissau is considered with feasible hydrologeogical conditions for manual drilling. In 63% of the regions where this technique is applicable, it is adequate for villages of small-medium size. Taking into consideration the results of this study, it seems evident that the promotion of manual drilling could be a valid alternative to improve the situation of access to safe water especially in rural areas

Digital Innovation Hubs and portfolio of their services across European economies

Digital ecosystems in Europe are heterogenous organizations involving different economies, industries, and contexts. Among them, Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) are considered a policy-driven organization fostered by the European Commission to push companies’ digital transition through a wide portfolio of supporting services.  Purpose of the article: There are DIHs existing in all European economies, but literature needs more precise indications about their status and nature. The purpose is to study a distribution of DIHs and differences in portfolios of DIHs’ services across European economies.    Methods: Data on 38 economies was collected from the S3 platform (on both existing and in preparation DIHs) and further verified using manual web scrapping of websites of DIHs identified from S3. To find potential similarities of digital ecosystems in different economies as emanated by the existence of DIHs, clusterization (Ward’s method and Euclidean distances) was applied according to the services offered. Economies were clustered according to the number of DIHs and the spread of DIHs intensity in different cities. The results were further analyzed according to the scope of the provided services. Findings & value added:  The applied clustering classified European economies in four different sets, according to the types of services offered by the DIHs. These sets are expression of the different digitalization statuses and strategies of the selected economies and, as such, the services a company can benefit from in a specific economy. Potential development-related reasons behind the data-driven clustering are then conjectured and reported, to guide companies and policy makers in their digitalization strategies.</p