Appropriation process of digital technologies by rural drinking water committees in the region of La Araucanía, Chile

While the coverage of potable water in rural areas has significantly increased in Chile, challenges persist in ensuring its quality, quantity, and continuity. This has required cooperatives and committees providing this service to engage in projects aimed at improving aspects associated with their management, such as transferring technologies that enable data-driven decision-making. The general objective of this study was to understand the obstacles and facilitators involved in the process of transferring a telemetry system by rural sanitary services, using a conceptual approach composed of three perspectives: sociotechnical systems, technological appropriation, and territorial governance. Information was collected through semi-structured interviews with leaders of rural drinking water committees in the La Araucanía region who have been involved in digital technology projects. The adopted theoretical perspectives, as well as the methodology used in this article, indicate that the appropriation of digital technologies by rural drinking water committees should be understood as a complex, territorial, systemic, multi-agent, and multilevel process.