Intermediate technology, later designated appropriate technology, was popularized in the early 1970s as being a technological level somewhere between traditional and modern (conventional and emerging) technologies There is no universally accepted definition of appropriate technology, but usually, compared to modern technologies, it is characterized by all or most of the following attributes: it is labour-intensive; its productivity is on smaller scales; it is ecologically "friendly"; it requires less demanding worker and managerial skills; it utilizes more local inputs; it requires a lower investment per job created. Appropriate technology has been criticized for not accomplishing enough to benefit the poor.
This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.
For organizations promoting technological development in developing countries, such as the Intermediate Technology Development Group, Volunteers for International Technical Assistance, and scores of other agencies, its shortcomings appear to have been largely overcome. It is suggested that the sizeable and growing arsenal of appropriate technologies should be taken seriously in any process of screening and selecting technologies for poverty-related projects.