public health. In the same way the associated costs and energy consumption would drop considerably, thus substantially reducing the cost of water services. It may be possible to incorporate and deliver bioengineered health products. Bioengineered organisms might be used to recover resources and to produce new sources of energy, raising the possibility that water service providers would also be major energy producers. The application of biotechnology to crops and plants could lead to the emergence of drought-resistant strains, which in turn would reduce the overall demand for water. In the field of nanotechnology, advances are likely to have the greatest impact on maintaining and enhancing infrastructure performance. This could come about through the use of sensors, smart materials and materials with the ability to self-heal and regenerate. Coupled with ITC advances it could usher in an era of autonomous operation of water service infrastructure (robotics) where the need for human intervention in areas such as dealing with deterioration or breakage would be all but eliminated. The skills mix required would change substantially and could lead to a significant increase in productivity and reduction in the size of the workforce required to operate and maintain systems and infrastructure, also reducing costs. While much of this could be achieved in developed countries with the necessary resources, it is less certain if the same sort of approaches could be implemented in developing countries. In those with rapidly developing INFRASTRUCTURE TO 2030: TELECOM, LAND TRANSPORT, WATER AND ELECTRICITY - ISBN 92-64-02398-4 - © OECD 2006 5. THE IMPACTS OF CHANGE ON THE LONG-TERM FUTURE DEMAND FOR WATER SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE economies that attract substantial FDI, a similar model could well be applied. However, it is unlikely that other developing countries without the skilled resource base will benefit or be able to realise the scale of cost reductions that such technologies could bring. Overall the technological advances would