Framework conditions to design sustainable business models for decentralised water treatment technologies in Viet Nam for international technology providers

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The expansion of water-intensive industrial activities and the impacts of climate change are jeopardising the sufficiency of safe drinking water in several Southeast Asian countries. One is Viet Nam, where geogenic arsenic contamination further limits the availability of freshwater resources with a simultaneous increase in water demand. Innovative and sustainable water treatment technologies are required to meet these challenges. Complementarily, we assume that the provision of safe drinking water requires tailored business models (BMs). In this study, we focus on the key stakeholders and framework conditions to design tailored BMs providing safe drinking water to the low-income and middle-income population in Viet Nam. We consider decentralised technologies to be suitable due to their lower investment costs for implementation and the avoidance of strong path dependencies. We therefore conducted a literature review and interviews with international experts in the domain of decentralised water treatment technologies. Our results show that relevant aspects include a lack of financial resources, specific characteristics associated with Vietnamese culture, e.g. the importance of relationships and trust in the business domain, lack of education and vocational training, market saturation suggesting co-operation with existing water suppliers, lack of suitable partners, and deficiencies in the institutional environment.</jats:p>

Exploring BoP Generations through Business Model Innovation Lens: A Review and Framing

“…Direct labor [33,134] Social network Physical [142,169] RS_P [33,157] Raw material-relying on locally available resources and/or waste resources [33,157] Land and energy-use locally available and neglected resources. e.g., vacant land, local sources of energy [57] Resource pooling between stakeholders Technological [32,68,77,109,151,168,171] Technological innovation/digitalization [132,145,149] Product technologies RS_T [145] Process technologies [76] Payment technologies [51] Technology as a service [52,172] E-commerce Resource sharing or pooling represents an alternative consumption model where the market operates with no ownership transfer: the consumer buys a consumption time at a cost that is being transferred to the service provider [57]. Although typically employed to ensure consumption accessibility for financially constrained customers, a showcased case employed this approach to pool 'farming' capacity, warranting its inclusion as a physical resource component.…”

“…Digital technologies wield transformative potential in spurring development and alleviating poverty by enhancing connectivity, reducing transaction costs, boosting efficiency, facilitating convenience, and expanding access to products and services [51]. Their ap-plication can engender novel business models and optimize existing ones by bestowing agility through digital commerce and services [68,171], while refining processes [145] and products [132,145,149] at any stage of the value chain, including sales [52,172] and payment methods [76].…”