*1.2. Water Security as an Objective for IWRM*

Integrated water resources management (IWRM) has been vigorously promoted by the international development community as a set of principles and a best practice process for planning and managing water resources [26]. IWRM has also however, been strongly criticized from both technical standpoints (for being too vague to have real utility for practical implementation [27]) and from political economy standpoints (having been dubbed "soft coercive hegemony" [28]). We find that accepting some key principles of IWRM (e.g., water systems focus, data/analytical foundation, participatory planning) but shifting to a medium-long term 'water security' outcome focus, helps to better define desired economic, social and environmental outcomes from water, and identify specific interventions to help achieve these. 'Water security' is thus conceptualized as the relationships between the water endowment, the water sector architecture (institutions and infrastructure), water sector performance (resource management, service delivery and risk mitigation) and the outcomes from how water is managed and used (Figure 1). A recent example of the application of this conceptualization is a comprehensive water security diagnostic for Pakistan [29].

**Figure 1.** Conceptual framework for water security.

Water resources management is integral to sustainable development. In 2015, all 193 Member States of the United Nations General Assembly agreed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is a plan to "end poverty in all its forms" and to "shift the world to a sustainable and resilient path". SDG 6—Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all—considers not just water supply and sanitation services, but also water scarcity and water use efficiency, water quality and wastewater treatment, water ecosystems, as well as institutional aspects of water resources management (including IWRM implementation) and cooperation [30]. Other aspects of water security (such as water-related disasters) are captured by other SDGs.

In this paper, we review the application of "disruptive technologies" in water resources management in large river basins, through this water security lens. We consider how these technologies can assist delivering better outcomes or deliver outcomes more efficiently or cost effectively. We discuss the roles of different actors and institutions, and consider risks associated with the adoption of these technologies and the barriers to widespread adoption.

#### *1.3. Role of Technology in Water Management*

Technology has multiple roles in water management, across the spheres of infrastructure design, systems planning, real-time operations. These can be considered in a matrix with the key areas of water resource management, irrigation management, water supply (and treatment) and sanitation, and environmental water management. Here, we focus on decision making—at both planning and operational time scales—for water resources management. This includes river basin planning; water allocation planning; flood and drought outlooks, forecasts and warnings; and the real-time operational management of water resources infrastructure. However, these boundaries are not tightly delineated, and many of the technologies discussed have application into other aspects of water management as well. For these selected focal areas of water resources management, we consider how 'data' is transformed into 'information' and then 'knowledge', and how these are then used in decision making for action. Along this 'value chain', we thus consider the collection, transmission, storage, management, and sharing of data. Then the ways in which data is transformed into information and thence into knowledge, and how information and knowledge are stored, managed, shared, visualized, and otherwise communicated. We consider the decision process and the roles of multiple actors in this process, and how decisions are communicated and then actioned. Beyond the 'hydro-informatics' elements of technology, there are innovative technologies for operations and stakeholder interaction. With respect to SDG 6, a brief introduction to some technology opportunities is provided by [31,32].

#### **2. Disruptive Technologies**

Disruptive technology is commonly defined as "technology that can fundamentally change not only established technologies but also the rules and business models of a given market, and often business and society overall"; the term (and concept) was first introduced in the mid-1990s by Harvard Business School scholars in the context of business innovation [33]. Disruptive technologies are now showing much promise in every field of development [34]. The evolution of these technologies is accelerating and disrupting traditional approaches to water planning and management. The key relevant technologies are summarized in Table 1 with implications on their application to water resource management in large river basins.

#### *2.1. Technology Evolution*

Technological evolution has influenced the use of water resources for millennia. However, in recent years, there has been an acceleration in the development of new tools and technologies of relevance for water resources management (Figure 2). Many factors, however, affect the adoption of emerging technologies, including institutional capacity, the enabling policy and institutional environment, resource availability, competing priorities, access to global good practice, intellectual property, and

the agility of governments, the private sector, academia, and other actors. These factors have meant heterogeneous but overall slow uptake and diffusion of new technologies. Some technologies that were deployed in the developed world more than a century ago, are only now being adopted across the developing world. However, much of the developing world has a 'last mover' advantage, with the potential to leapfrog old ways and adopt new approaches more rapidly than the developmental paradigm allowed in the developed world. While there have been many challenges in leapfrogging in some areas, including for environmental sustainability and indeed for river basin management [35], information and communication technology leapfrogging is beginning to show real impact in spite of "tech transfer" and "absorptive capacity" issues [36], including through rapid adoption of mobile technologies and leveraging the large data sets generated by some developing countries [37].

**Figure 2.** Timeline of water technology evolution.

Here, we classify disruptive technologies according to where they can be most disruptive: (i) decision-making, (ii) operations, and (iii) stakeholder interaction (Figure 3).
