Hybrid management of technology for global co-evolution: Insight from Singapore's water industry

Ensuring a sustainable water supply is crucial in all economies. Technological breakthrough has made possible the idea of using membranes to treat water. Recycling water and desalination are substitutes for the traditional water treatment process. While sea water is plentiful, the process of desalination depends largely on electricity, making the process costly. Singapore's success in NE Water (recycled water) depended on its stepwise advancement of membrane technology with sophisticated complementary engineering systems based on advanced information technology. This advancement contributes to electricity efficiency improvement in desalination which in turn accelerates dramatic advancement of the complementary engineering systems. Synergistic effects between NE Water and desalination can be expected by constructing a hybrid management of technology fusing indigenous strength and the effect of learning leading to a new phase in Singapore's NEWater development and also the trigger of its desalination endeavor. By means of an empirical analysis of Singapore's pioneer challenge, this paper demonstrates the significance of this endeavor for global sustainability.
KEYWORDS: Water supply; Singapore; Water distribution; Water utilities; Saline water conversion; Sustainability

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