Amid digital push, real-world problems such as water bankruptcy risk being overlooked

WITH global attention now captured by cutting-edge digital technology – from quantum computing to artificial intelligence – it can be easy to assume that the basic issues of everyday life have been solved.

Easy, at least, for the better-off in developed countries, who fall within the upper tiers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Yet, in much of the world, fundamental needs remain under threat – including that for water.

In January, the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) released a report on the world’s “global water bankruptcy”. It noted that nearly three-quarters of the world’s population live in countries classified as “water-insecure” or “critically water-insecure”. Some 2.2 billion people lack access to “safely managed” drinking water.