Editing Appropriate technology (section)

{{Short description|Concept in the philosophy and politics of technology}}
[[File:Musoke Deo MDK-MUSO. A SIMPLE PEDAL-WATER PUMP USED IN URBAN & RURAL POOR COMMUNITIES.jpg|thumb|Pedal-powered water pump in Uganda]]
'''Appropriate technology''' is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing [[technology|technological]] choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by its users, [[labor-intensive]], [[efficient energy use|energy-efficient]], [[environmentally sustainable]], and [[localism (politics)|locally autonomous]].<ref name=BrownU>{{cite book|title=Appropriate Technology: Tools, Choices, and Implications|year=1999|publisher=Academic Press|location=New York|isbn=0-12-335190-1|pages=3, 270|author=Hazeltine, B.|author2=Bull, C.}}</ref><ref name=SianiparEJSD>{{cite journal|last1=Sianipar|first1=C.P.M.|last2=Dowaki|first2=K.|last3=Yudoko|first3=G.|last4=Adhiutama|first4=A.|year=2013|title=Seven pillars of survivability: Appropriate Technology with a human face|journal=European Journal of Sustainable Development|volume=2|issue=4|pages=1–18|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236658117|doi=10.14207/ejsd.2013.v2n4p1|s2cid= 43175160|doi-access=free|bibcode=2013EJSD....2....1S }}</ref> It was originally articulated as '''intermediate technology''' by the economist [[E. F. Schumacher|Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher]] in his work ''[[Small Is Beautiful]].'' Both Schumacher and many modern-day proponents of appropriate technology also emphasize the technology as [[People-centered development|people-centered]].<ref name=Akubue>{{cite journal|last=Akubue|first=Anthony|title=Appropriate Technology for Socioeconomic Development in Third World Countries|journal=The Journal of Technology Studies|date=Winter–Spring 2000|volume=26|issue=1|pages=33–43|doi=10.21061/jots.v26i1.a.6|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=E4C>{{cite news| author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title= Communities move to the center of the design process in a newly proposed methodology|url=https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/communities-move-to-the-center-of-the-design-process-in-a-newly-proposed-methodology/|newspaper=Engineering for Change|location= |date= September 21, 2013|access-date=March 9, 2021}}</ref>

Appropriate technology has been used to address issues in a wide range of fields. Well-known examples of appropriate technology applications include: bike- and hand-powered water pumps (and other [[self-powered equipment]]), the [[bicycle]], the [[universal nut sheller]], self-contained [[solar lamp]]s and [[Solar street light|streetlights]], and [[passive solar building design]]s. Today appropriate technology is often developed using [[open source]] principles, which have led to ''[[open-source appropriate technology]]'' (OSAT) and thus many of the plans of the technology can be freely found on the [[Internet]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Buitenhuis |first1=J |last2=Zelenika |first2=Ivana |last3=Pearce |first3=Joshua M. |title=Open Design-Based Strategies to Enhance Appropriate Technology Development |journal=Open: NCIIA 14th Annual Conference |date=March 2010 |id={{ProQuest|845798606}} |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02120500/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Pearce | first1 = Joshua M. | year = 2012 | title = The Case for Open Source Appropriate Technology | journal = Environment, Development and Sustainability | volume = 14 | issue = 3| pages = 425–431 | doi = 10.1007/s10668-012-9337-9 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2012EDSus..14..425P }}</ref> OSAT has been proposed as a new model of enabling [[innovation]] for [[sustainable development]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pearce |first1=Joshua |last2=Albritton |first2=Scott |last3=Grant |first3=Gabriel |last4=Steed |first4=Garrett |last5=Zelenika |first5=Ivana |title=A new model for enabling innovation in appropriate technology for sustainable development |journal=Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy |date=October 2012 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=42–53 |doi=10.1080/15487733.2012.11908095 |s2cid=17627587 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012SSPP....8...42P }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zelenika |first1=I. |last2=Pearce |first2=J. M. |title=Innovation through collaboration: scaling up solutions for sustainable development |journal=Environment, Development and Sustainability |date=December 2014 |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=1299–1316 |doi=10.1007/s10668-014-9528-7 |bibcode=2014EDSus..16.1299Z |s2cid=154827180 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02119686/file/Innovation_Through_Collaboration_Scaling.pdf }}</ref>

Appropriate technology is most commonly discussed in its relationship to [[economic development]] and as an alternative to [[technology transfer]] of more [[Capital (economics)|capital]]-intensive technology from [[industrialized nations]] to [[developing countries]].<ref name=Akubue/><ref name=SianiparJSSM>
{{cite journal|last1=Sianipar|first1=C.P.M.|last2=Yudoko|first2=G.|last3=Dowaki|first3=K.|last4=Adhiutama|first4=A.|year=2014|title=Design and technological appropriateness: The quest for community survivability|journal=Journal of Sustainability Science and Management|volume=9|issue=1|pages=1–17|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266144345}}</ref><ref name=Todaro>{{cite book|title=Economic Development|url=https://archive.org/details/economicdevelopm8thtoda|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Addison Wesley|location=Boston|isbn=0-273-65549-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/economicdevelopm8thtoda/page/252 252–254]|author=Todaro, M.|author2=Smith, S.}}</ref> However, appropriate technology movements can be found in both developing and developed countries. In developed countries, the appropriate technology movement grew out of the [[energy crisis of the 1970s]] and focuses mainly on environmental and [[sustainability]] issues.<ref name="NCAT">{{cite web|url=http://www.ncat.org/history|title=The History of NCAT|last=The National Center for Appropriate Technology|access-date=20 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908202318/http://www.ncat.org/history/|archive-date=8 September 2018}}</ref> Today the idea is multifaceted; in some contexts, appropriate technology can be described as the simplest level of technology that can achieve the intended purpose, whereas in others, it can refer to engineering that takes adequate consideration of social and environmental ramifications. The facets are connected through [[robustness]] and [[sustainable living]].