We’re working on two major innovations that we hope will completely change the effectiveness of our enterprise.   When we started, these were just “cool” things that a bunch of technophiles thought would be interesting to do;  Today, we’re beginning to realize the potential that technology innovations have to make dispersed rural enterprise networks like ours work.

The two things that we are working on:

• A controller (the “brain”) for our Reverse Osmosis machines – these devices route power to different parts of the machine, defining the logic by which it operates.  We’re trying to figure out how to make the logic more user friendly so that it limits the technical knowledge required of our franchisees and servicefolks AND we’re embedding all kinds of nifty sensors that will automatically  inform a central command on the activity and health of the machines.   Hopefully, this will lead to a lot of preventative maintenance and much easier / more real-time data collection on the performance of our business and that of our franchisees.  We might be able to do wonders in increasing access if we had a more reliable sense of what was going on.
• A point-of-sale dispensing device that basically gives customers a prepaid RFID card that can be “topped up” much like prepaid cellphone services.   Customers come to an outlet or a nearby distribution point, use their card, see their balance and the TDS of the water, hit a button for how much water they want and bingo @#@!  it deducts the money and dispenses an exact amount of water.   Our intent is to get real-time customer usage data to help our franchisees more strategically grow their businesses, it allows for more flexible and distributed payment mechanisms, it inspires confidence and discipline in the way our franchisees operate.   We got a grant from the Ripple Effect program run by IDEO/Acumen Fund to make this one possible.  Updates on it coming soon.

We are excited to have participated in the Ripple Effect workshop in Hyderabad last month, and to receive a grant from the Ripple Effect project, a collaboration between IDEO and the Acumen Fund that aims to enable innovations that will strengthen water enterprises.

Our grant helps us build a real-time rural point-of-sale system that will allow end consumers to have an RFID card which can be recharged with varying amounts of money as the currency for purchasing water from their local franchisee or, more interestingly, from a self-service or managed distribution point closer to their home.  The intent:  to use our machines for longer in the day, reach more people within walking distance from their homes, and, in turn, make the business more viable for our franchisees.

We will post more on our progress as we have it.