Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group
Encyclopedia
The Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG) provides access to environmentally friendly
infrastructure in impoverished communities in developing countries
through a combination of business incubation
, education
, and direct outreach. The AIDG’s focus is the promotion of affordable and environmentally sound technologies to address gaps in basic services and infrastructure in rural areas of developing countries. The AIDG incubates businesses that provide renewable energy
, water, and sanitation technologies to underserved communities, development agencies, and private individuals. The AIDG offers developing world design experience for university students interested in appropriate technology
while providing hands-on assistance to rural communities in need.
who are currently unserved or underserved by large-grid water, electrical, and sanitation infrastructure. The AIDG aims to provide products and services affordable to populations living on under 2 dollars a day.
, education
, and community outreach.
AIDG outreach projects are the basis for the group's TecoTours service-learning program. Through the TecoTours program, groups of volunteers interested in working in developing countries
provide a tax-deductible gift to gain hands-on experience working on outreach projects. This program is an opportunity to develop a constant stream of financial support independent of foundation or grant revenue.
Though each program — business incubation, education, and outreach — is described separately, they are integrated to such a degree that none would be able to function alone. For example, the income generated by the TecoTour program supports the incubated workshops, which in turn provide a working space for employees and international volunteers. Community outreach serves to foster local demand for the workshop's products, while concurrently providing training to workshop employees. The incubated businesses provide a functional environment to run the internship and education programs, while the products from the Project Placement Program aid the research and development
of products for the workshop.
(Xela) Guatemala
in August 2005. Since then XelaTeco has produced biodigesters, windmill
s, high efficiency stove
s, pump
s, water filters, solar LED lighting systems and micro-hydro products. It is installing a micro-hydroelectric system to serve Communidad Nueva Alianza, a cooperative of 40 Guatemalan families.
XelaTeco comprises 10 Guatemalan workers, all highly skilled with university and technical school backgrounds, many lacking other viable work opportunities. The team is split between seven men and three women, with the varied skill set necessary for completing the variety of projects, from accounting and civil engineering
to electronics
and metalcasting
.
Environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....
infrastructure in impoverished communities in developing countries
Developing country
A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...
through a combination of business incubation
Business incubator
Business incubators are programs designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services, developed and orchestrated by incubator management and offered both in the incubator and through its network of contacts...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, and direct outreach. The AIDG’s focus is the promotion of affordable and environmentally sound technologies to address gaps in basic services and infrastructure in rural areas of developing countries. The AIDG incubates businesses that provide renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
, water, and sanitation technologies to underserved communities, development agencies, and private individuals. The AIDG offers developing world design experience for university students interested in appropriate technology
Appropriate technology
Appropriate technology is an ideological movement originally articulated as "intermediate technology" by the economist Dr...
while providing hands-on assistance to rural communities in need.
Target Population
The AIDG aims to increase the use of environmentally sound infrastructure among rural agriculturalistsAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
who are currently unserved or underserved by large-grid water, electrical, and sanitation infrastructure. The AIDG aims to provide products and services affordable to populations living on under 2 dollars a day.
Programs
The AIDG has three primary programs: business incubationBusiness incubator
Business incubators are programs designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services, developed and orchestrated by incubator management and offered both in the incubator and through its network of contacts...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, and community outreach.
- Business Incubation. AIDG's Business Incubation Program locates engineering talent in developing countries and helps them to form businesses that provide village and home scale renewable energyRenewable energyRenewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
and sanitation technologies to underserved communities, development agencies, and private individuals. The program provides seed capital, in the form of a recoverable grantGrant (money)Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
, as well as comprehensive technical and logistical support over a two-year incubation period. After this period, interest-free repayments of the recoverable grant are paid back over 15 years and used to start new businesses in other geographic areas and regions. The objective is to use this self-sustaining replication model to create a global network of micro-manufacturing facilities, known as workshops. The staff from previously incubated businesses will train employees at the new workshops to ensure that learning is propagated throughout the network. Workshops are set up as design-build facilities with a diverse product range, capable of adapting to fluctuations in demandDemand- Economics :*Demand , the desire to own something and the ability to pay for it*Demand curve, a graphic representation of a demand schedule*Demand deposit, the money in checking accounts...
and the needs of the local marketMarketA market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
. Investing in manufacturing facilities ensures that the long-term knowledge and productive resources required to fabricate, install, repair, and innovate much-needed infrastructure technologies are disseminatedDisseminationTo disseminate , in terms of the field of communication, means to broadcast a message to the public without direct feedback from the audience. Dissemination takes on the theory of the traditional view of communication, which involves a sender and receiver...
to the communities and individuals that need them the most. Each workshop facility serves as a focal point for the AIDG's community outreach and education programs in the region.
- Education. The AIDG Education Program provides internship opportunities for qualified professionals, undergraduate, and graduateGraduate schoolA graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
students. This program fosters information exchange between university students and faculty and workers at the AIDG's incubated businesses. Any new product innovations that are developed in concert with the internship program are disseminated to all of the workshops. Through the Project Placement Program, students with novel designs are invited to manufacture and test the designs in one of the AIDG's incubated or post-incubation facilities. Designs are matched with interested communities for ongoing testing, and long-term performance information is relayed back to the student via the InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
- Outreach. Through the AIDG Outreach Program, workshop employees and volunteers perform infrastructure improvements for rural community organizations, such as schoolSchoolA school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s, hospitalHospitalA hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s, and community centers. Such projects, while providing needed services, demonstrate the utility of the workshop's products and increase acceptance among the greater population. They help the workshop employees understand the needs of the target populations they are trying to serve. By contracting the workshop to do an outreach project, the AIDG provides a supplemental income stream to the workshop during its incubation period.
AIDG outreach projects are the basis for the group's TecoTours service-learning program. Through the TecoTours program, groups of volunteers interested in working in developing countries
Developing country
A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low level of material well-being. Since no single definition of the term developing country is recognized internationally, the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries...
provide a tax-deductible gift to gain hands-on experience working on outreach projects. This program is an opportunity to develop a constant stream of financial support independent of foundation or grant revenue.
Though each program — business incubation, education, and outreach — is described separately, they are integrated to such a degree that none would be able to function alone. For example, the income generated by the TecoTour program supports the incubated workshops, which in turn provide a working space for employees and international volunteers. Community outreach serves to foster local demand for the workshop's products, while concurrently providing training to workshop employees. The incubated businesses provide a functional environment to run the internship and education programs, while the products from the Project Placement Program aid the research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
of products for the workshop.
Business Incubation: Xela Teco
The AIDG began training at its first micro-manufacturing facility, XelaTeco, in QuetzaltenangoQuetzaltenango
Quetzaltenango, also commonly known by its indigenous name, Xelajú , or more commonly, Xela , is the second largest city of Guatemala. It is both the capital of Quetzaltenango Department and the municipal seat of Quetzaltenango municipality....
(Xela) Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
in August 2005. Since then XelaTeco has produced biodigesters, windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
s, high efficiency stove
Stove
A stove is an enclosed heated space. The term is commonly taken to mean an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to provide heating, either to heat the space in which the stove is situated or to heat the stove itself, and items placed on it...
s, pump
Pump
A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...
s, water filters, solar LED lighting systems and micro-hydro products. It is installing a micro-hydroelectric system to serve Communidad Nueva Alianza, a cooperative of 40 Guatemalan families.
XelaTeco comprises 10 Guatemalan workers, all highly skilled with university and technical school backgrounds, many lacking other viable work opportunities. The team is split between seven men and three women, with the varied skill set necessary for completing the variety of projects, from accounting and civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
to electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
and metalcasting
Casting
In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...
.
External links
- AIDG.org - main website
- AIDG.net - AIDG Technology Network
- Peter Haas, Founder and Executive Director