UNDP Kyrgyzstan Accelerator Lab

We leverage indigenous nomad wisdom, collective intelligence and technologies for citizen-empowered community development.

There is a growing relevance gap between the development agenda of local authorities and the needs of citizens in local communities.The UNDP Kyrgyzstan Accelerator Lab is addressing this gap through mapping grassroots solutions, experimenting with social cohesion drivers and exploring future models of community development.

The Lab was established in Kyrgyzstan in November 2020. The launch event presented readiness to leverage public-private collaboration in innovation. As an example, the Accelerator Lab is scaling the impact of a local startup (BalaTech) – selected as one of ten impactful digital solutions at the global “Digital X Scale Accelerator”. In 2021, the Lab conducted a sense-making exercise and a hackathon on #DevelopMyCommunity. At present, we are experimenting with virtual community building through the “Online Community Accelerator” to promote digital civic engagement. We are exploring new models of community development through the “Reinvest Tourism” portfolio, and we are mapping civic solutions for urban development. With the support of the UNDP Country Office, the Lab aims to empower people to shape the formation of an inclusive community in an innovative way.