Water systems and services management

The evaluation, which focused on technology transfer (TT) to private Jordanian firms in designing sanitary engineering projects, covered the period 8/83-3/85 and was based on document review and discussions with U.S. and Jordanian project personnel and with USAID/J. All three Jordanian contracting firms involved in the project have improved their capabilities. Specifically, all have: developed or expanded their reference material libraries; acquired or elaborated general and technical specifications for sanitary work; and gained experience and confidence in sewage treatment plant design as well as a greater appreciation of the needs of projects financed by international lending agencies. At the time of the evaluation, two of the firms (and their respective U.S. subcontractors) were finishing the design of water distribution systems, sewage collection and wastewater treatment facilities, and stormwater drainage systems for four cities in southern Jordan; the third firm, the largest, was completing the design of similar systems and facilities for six cities in northern Jordan. Each of the three U.S. subcontractors approached the TT process differently. Virtually every approach was successful to some degree, but reading and studying outside the normal work environment proved to be the least effective approach, and one-on-one working opportunities during the design process the most effective. Two of the subcontractors undertook to transfer management techniques as well as purely technical skills. Although short-term gains in increased capabilities are real and identifiable, how the acquired technology will be retained and applied will depend on the firms" ability to obtain additional sanitary work. Lessons from the project are that: (1) the scope of work for TT should be defined, showing planned approaches with scheduled milestones and deliverable items; (2) the use of tools such as participatory workshops/seminars and lectures linked to ongoing project work activities followed by practical application should be encouraged; and (3) major TT efforts, especially in nontechnical areas, should continued to be grant-funded. Action decisions are to disseminate evaluation findings to other interested Missions and donors and to begin the evaluation process for the project"s next phase. Baseline data for evaluating TT in this phase - construction supervision - were collected during the present evaluation. It is likely that the same three firms will be awarded the construction supervision contracts. (Author abstract, modified)