- Microwaves of Resilience: Frugal Innovation for Hydroclimatic Monitoring in Africa

The proposed project will tackle one of the most impactful aspects of global change: extreme weather events and flooding that produce economic, social and environmental losses in the Global South. Many studies have shown that southern regions like Africa are highly vulnerable to hydroclimatic risks for many reasons. Tropical rainfall with deep convection generates intense precipitation associated with frequent flooding. Rapid population growth and poorly planned urbanisation worsen flood impact. The global south is also exposed to another problem: the lack of hydrometeorological infrastructure to monitor these extreme events and provide adequate early-warning services. This lack of preparedness compared to better-equipped regions explains why similar storms severity leads to greater human losses and material damages in many Africa countries. Recurrent exposure to flood risk has long-term consequences for African societies and economies, deterring investments and hindering sustainable development. Many African countries and authorities are caught in a vicious cycle: the lack of investment in hydrometeorological infrastructure increases the exposure to climate risks while the economic losses caused by these risks further reduce their ability to invest in essential infrastructure. Frugal innovation that avoids over-engineering, reduce costs and provides the essential functionality needed to monitor severe weather without major infrastructure investment could help break the vicious cycle. Rainfall mapping based on mobile telecommunication could be that innovation, because it relies on an existing, well-maintained network for monitoring. The technology, that we call RainCell (for Rain Measurement from Cellular telecommunication network) has already been successfully tested at various pilot sites in Africa – and elsewhere. To make RainCell operational at scale, its economic viability must be assessed (e.g., through a cost-benefit analysis) and a long-term collaboration model with telecommunications operators must be established. This PhD project aims to address these challenges by drawing on the data, experiences, and partnerships established in our African pilot sites. The objective is to analyse the costs, value chain and potential benefits of a method that transforms raw data from mobile telecommunication networks into rainfall maps and subsequent climate/weather services. Based on this analysis, the project will develop one or more sustainable business models and assess their relevance for various potential key stakeholders: telecommunications operators and regulatory agencies, (representatives of) government authorities, local communities, hydrometeorological services, potential private-sector users, and donors. The expected outcome is a validated framework for determining when and how RainCell (or other forms of opportunistic sensing) can move from a technically proven pilot to an operational frugal innovation in Africa. We envision the project delivers: a systematic assessment of RainCell against established frugal-innovation criteria; a comprehensive analysis of the costs, benefits and incentives of the key stakeholders in its value chain; and one or more sustainable and frugal business models (tested with pilot-site partners) that can be adopted by telecommunications operators, meteorological services and donors to scale the technique beyond the research context. To conduct this research, the supervisory team brings together the experts who pioneered the RainCell technique in Africa with economists and innovation management scholars from the International Centre for Frugal Innovation in the Netherlands (www.icfi.nl). The team combine the hydrometeorological expertise needed to validate the technology and assess its technical performance with the economic and business-model expertise needed to develop sustainable business models and enable its transition from a proven technology to an operational service. École doctorale : SDU2E - Sciences de l'Univers, de l'Environnement et de l'Espace Direction : Marielle GOSSET Financement : MSCA COFUND BEST