????“我們試圖提供一條市場化道路”

????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,，也是哈佛水安全動議（Harvard Water Security Initiative）項目的主任。他說,，如果要有效地應(yīng)對旱災(zāi),，那么“我們必須做好兩方面的工作?！?/p>

????布里斯克解釋說,，“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源有效管理實施監(jiān)管的法規(guī)和機(jī)構(gòu)。

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

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

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

????在過去的5年中，布萊恩的公司每年都會舉辦業(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)投資本家和其他專家組成的評審委員會對這些創(chuàng)意進(jìn)行評審,。之后,，位列前12名的選手將進(jìn)入公司的加速器項目。布萊恩說：“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,。”

????他解釋道,，“我們在試圖提供一條市場化道路,。我們有很多卓越的技術(shù)，只是它們沒有被市場利用而已,。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敻恢形木W(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.”