In the dissemination of building technologies, there are several factors which act as catalysts and take the process forward, while there are others which act as hurdles. As a part of The Shelter-Forum where practitioners of appropriate building technologies from Development Alternatives and its group of companies viz. Tara and TBRT, TNK got together, there was a debate on strategies for promotion of these technologies. It was decided that the process of technology dissemination would be understood through a simulation game of Snakes and Ladders. The group consisting of about 20 people identified two snakes (the hurdles) and two ladders (the boosters) in promotion of a specific building technology, viz. Compressed Earth Blocks. From there on, the game of snakes and ladder was built up. This exercise was done to foresee what complications and problems were faced in marketing of the technology which could be organised within a framework. An attempt to explain the game is given below, although it becomes clear as you begin to play it.

Every technology cycle passes through five stages: Need Assessment, Technology development, Tests and field trials, Pre-commercialization and Commercialization. There are several key role players, such as the user, the policy maker and the technology provider who also provides services, resource personnel and is the repositor of the knowledge base. These key players have their positions in the game board, where their efforts or assistance can boost the entire process of dissemination. This game can be used only within the context of a particular region, and it should be kept in mind that the five stages cover 20 blocks at a time, each of which take you onto a new platform of technology dissemination. The first stage will start from point number one and is the need assessment. A ladder, such as alternative power, available for the production process or availability of a network for advertisement and finance can move you forward, while snakes, such as lack of finance, or low level of awareness can drop the player a few blocks below. Like the game of the snakes and ladders, one plays this game with a dice.

This is an ideal exercise to help in formulating strategies while disseminating the technology. As you go along, there are different interpretations but the two-dimensional game exposes the different forces which are at play interactively. While viewing ladders alone, one thinks it is a cake-walk. The snakes viewed alone could induce a lot of pessimism in the marketing personnel. It helped the diverse group understand that we could, if we view the problem holistically, solve many of the hurdles and convert them into ladders, provided you could bring in key players and partners. Sustainable Building Technology dissemination has to be driven towards bringing in those players who can actually make the difference by converting snakes into ladders. It is clear that the focus has to be on the user. Eventually, for technology dissemination to be successful, the User is the King. q