UNDP and Govt. partner to develop and co-fund the ‘Idea Board’

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) yesterday entered into a partnership with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research to further develop and co-fund the ‘Idea Board’, an online crowd sourcing platform anchored at the Sri Lanka Innovation Dashboard, which is an initiative of the ministry.

A collective effort between the UNDP and the ministry, the ‘Idea Board’ was developed by a group of young developers brought together by the UNDP. The concept behind an online crowd sourcing platform is to create a space for communities, including young people from across the country, to voice their opinions and thoughts, after which they will be consolidated into a larger effort to create solutions for social issues ailing the country. 

Through the Idea Board, the ministry and UNDP will be able to identify ideas that could be expanded into solutions, making this platform an effective bottom-to-top approach in finding solutions to development challenges faced by communities.

With the interest of expanding its reach, the UNDP and the ministry have now come together to co-fund the second phase of the Idea Board. This phase will see further developments made to the platform in order to make it more dynamic and user-friendly in order to attract more users. 

Speaking about this financial collaboration, Secretary of the Ministry Udaya Seneviratne stated: “The Ministry of Science, Technology and Research through the Coordinating Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (COSTI) is pleased to partner with UNDP to develop the ‘Idea Board’, an online citizen engagement platform, which is an extension of our Innovation Dashboard. The platform aims to give the general public a space to voice their opinions, ideas and solutions.”

 Meanwhile, Country Director of UNDP Sri Lanka Jorn Sorensen, speaking on the importance of this partnership, stated: “We are very pleased to continue our partnership with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research to further the development of the Idea Board platform, an innovative tool which strengthens people-centered development in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.”