This innovative interactive e-book is to provide a quick introduction to how we can reimagine groundwater management leveraging rapid advances in disruptive technology. It has been developed as part of the Mashreq Water Initiative (facilitated by the UN ESCWA and the World Bank) by the Disruptive KIDS (Knowledge, Information & Data Services) Helpdesk of the World Bank.

An interactive e-book is more than a pdf or static electronic document. This e-book includes text and a wide range of interactive elements (e.g., hyperlinks, photo galleries, video galleries, interactive graphs, interactive maps, interactive data/knowledge filters, etc.) drawing upon multiple online resources.

The e-book contains text and interactive graphics that enhances the user’s knowledge and learning experience. Check out the interactive elements:

• Multi-Media: Picture and video galleries, presentation slides
• Interactive maps: To move around the map click anywhere and drag around. To zoom in or out of the map: Press Ctrl + or Ctrl -. Click anywhere to get details about a place.
• Interactive graphics: When the reader place the mouse on top of some graphs, more information pops-up.
• Interactive data and knowledge portals: These Annexes allow the reader to have access to further knowledge resources and information.

The e-book should work on any digital device having an internet connection (tablet, phone, laptop, touchscreens) and has a fully operating responsive design (so should look ok whichever way the device is turned). The platform and programming provide user interface with a responsive design layout that is adjusted automatically to the device hardware. The e-book is accessible on all browsers, although Google Chrome on desktops is recommended for best results.

A key feature of the e-book is it draws all the information from online services hosted by external services in the public domain. That makes the e-book a very “practical” tool that should not require a powerful machine or high-speed internet connections and allows for “real-time” data (e.g., those from earth observation or shared in-situ sensors) to also be displayed, along with other online resources.

An interactive knowledge explorer is also provided at the end of the e-book to help your digits access digital resources that can be filtered in several different ways (e.g., by technology type, region, environmental challenge, or resource type).

This innovative and interactive knowledge e-Book resource allows easy updating of the contents on an iterative basis as the contents are revised and modified based on continued stakeholder inputs and updates.

This e-book contains many examples of specific technologies and initiatives to support groundwater management. This is not intended to be in any way an endorsement of these technologies but are intended to illustrate this fast-moving world of new technologies being leveraged to solve what used to be considered intractable challenges. The world has moved on and these types of technologies are becoming more common everywhere globally and there is a need to help everyone learn from each other as part of global good practice.

Please do not try to print this e-book. The point of this e-book is to allow for quick interactive access to a range of curated multi-media resources, links, and interactive graphics that could take days to fully explore and read. However, this gives you a modern way to access these on any device, quickly understand the main issues and do deeper dives in areas where you have interest to learn more.

Please do send suggestions to improve this continuously evolving e-book and associated resources such as the data and knowledge portals.