????“我們?cè)噲D提供一條市場(chǎng)化道路”

????約翰?布里斯克是哈佛大學(xué)（Harvard University）環(huán)境工程和環(huán)境健康領(lǐng)域的教授，也是哈佛水安全動(dòng)議（Harvard Water Security Initiative）項(xiàng)目的主任。他說(shuō)，如果要有效地應(yīng)對(duì)旱災(zāi)，那么“我們必須做好兩方面的工作。”

????布里斯克解釋說(shuō)，“首先要有基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。其次要有相應(yīng)的機(jī)制?！币簿褪且心軌?qū)λY源有效管理實(shí)施監(jiān)管的法規(guī)和機(jī)構(gòu)。

????布里斯克說(shuō)，與金融投資一樣，擁有多元化的水資源“資產(chǎn)組合”很重要。水量充足的時(shí)候可以使用廉價(jià)的水源；較為昂貴的水源則可以在困難時(shí)期維系一個(gè)地區(qū)的用水。

????布里斯克將成功治理旱情的澳大利亞作為例證。該國(guó)推出了一個(gè)全新的水資源期貨交易所。他說(shuō)：“他們擁有一整套非常靈活的機(jī)制，能夠充分體現(xiàn)水的利用價(jià)值。一旦水資源擁有這種價(jià)值之后，對(duì)于新技術(shù)的巨大需求就會(huì)顯現(xiàn)出來(lái)。而這一機(jī)制的信息和技術(shù)密集度也會(huì)越來(lái)越高?！?/p>

????清潔水源領(lǐng)域非營(yíng)利性機(jī)構(gòu)Imagine H2O首席運(yùn)營(yíng)官斯科特?布萊恩表示，從全球來(lái)看，水資源市場(chǎng)每年的價(jià)值約為5千億美元。布萊恩質(zhì)問(wèn)說(shuō)，“既然生態(tài)、人類(lèi)以及市場(chǎng)對(duì)于水資源的需求規(guī)模如此之大，為什么關(guān)注這一行業(yè)的企業(yè)家和投資商卻沒(méi)有多少？”即便是在加州，“關(guān)注這一區(qū)域最為緊迫問(wèn)題的技術(shù)公司也是寥寥無(wú)幾?！?/p>

????在過(guò)去的5年中，布萊恩的公司每年都會(huì)舉辦業(yè)務(wù)創(chuàng)新比賽。在比賽當(dāng)中，早期創(chuàng)業(yè)家和研究人員可以提交其創(chuàng)意，隨后，由風(fēng)投資本家和其他專(zhuān)家組成的評(píng)審委員會(huì)對(duì)這些創(chuàng)意進(jìn)行評(píng)審。之后，位列前12名的選手將進(jìn)入公司的加速器項(xiàng)目。布萊恩說(shuō)：“如今，比賽的獲勝者和決勝選手所獲得的投資占水務(wù)領(lǐng)域的早期融資總額的六分之一?！?/p>

????他解釋道，“我們?cè)谠噲D提供一條市場(chǎng)化道路。我們有很多卓越的技術(shù)，只是它們沒(méi)有被市場(chǎng)利用而已。為了接觸那些能將新業(yè)務(wù)模式引入這一領(lǐng)域的人士，公司投入了很多的精力，而新業(yè)務(wù)模式與新技術(shù)的重要性幾乎是不相上下的?！保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：翔

????‘We’re trying to offer a path to market’

????To make an impact in drought conditions, “there are two legs you have to walk on,” said John Briscoe, a professor of environmental engineering and environmental health at Harvard University and the director of the Harvard Water Security Initiative.

????“First, you have to have infrastructure,” Briscoe explains. “Second, you have to have institutions”—that is, rules and organizations to govern the effective management of water.

????As in financial investing, it is important to have a diverse “portfolio” of water sources, Briscoe says. Cheaper ones can be used when water is plentiful; more expensive ones can sustain an area during difficult conditions.

????Briscoe points to Australia, home of a new futures exchange focused on water, for its success dealing with drought. “They have a very flexible set of institutions with very clear signals about the value of water use,” he says. “Once water has this value, there’s a huge call for new technology. It becomes more information- and technology-intensive.”

????Globally, the water market is worth roughly half a trillion dollars per year, says Scott Bryan, chief operating officer at the clean water nonprofit Imagine H2O. “If you look at the magnitude of the ecological and humanitarian need plus the market need, why don’t we have more entrepreneurs and investors looking into this issue?” Bryan asks. Even in California itself, “very little of the tech boom focuses on our region’s most pressing issue,” he adds.

????For the last five years, Bryan’s firm has offered an annual business innovation competition through which early stage entrepreneurs and researchers can submit their ideas for judging by a panel of venture capitalists and other experts. It then gives the top 12 contenders a place in its accelerator program. “Our winners and finalists now represent one in every six dollars of early stage financing in the water sector,” Bryan says.

????“What we’re trying to offer is a path to market,” he explains. “We have a lot of great technology out there, it just doesn’t make it to market. A lot of our work is reaching out to people who can bring new business models to the sector—that’s almost more important than new technology.”