The Digitisation of Sanitation: Transformation to Smart, Scalable and Aspirational Sanitation for All

Abstract

In 2016 the Toilet Board Coalition ran a Feasibility Study to explore the potential role of mobile and digital applications to drive efficiencies and consumer demand in sanitation business models operating in low-income markets. The following questions were at the centre of our inquiry:- How are sanitation businesses operating in low-income markets using mobile and digital applications in their businesses today?- How are sanitation businesses and entrepreneurs thinking about next generation opportunities for mobile and digital applications for their businesses in the future?- What is needed to build the ecosystem for the digitisation of sanitation for the low income markets?Is there commercial interest and demand from large industrial operations to become buyers and investors into the system? This paper presents the findings of our study in the form of a thought piece on the topic of the digitisation of sanitation for all. Our intent is to present a number of business opportunity spaces, where we believe that value has been left on the table and customer needs unmet, to be explored further in the decade ahead.