By: Alberto Cottica, R&D Specialist, UNDP Accelerator Labs In the Global South, climate change is a development problem. It is both a problem and an amplifier of other development problems, such as subpar infrastructure, weak institutions, multidimensional poverty and armed conflicts. As such, it is a priority for UNDP, and…

By Jeroen P.J. de Jong, Professor, Utrecht University This is a guest blog written by Dr. Jeroen P.J. de Jong (j.p.j.dejong@uu.nl), who is leading a groundbreaking research project to explore household innovation and informal entrepreneurship in South Africa. This is a collaborative effort and the result of a partnership between…

By Tayo Akinyemi, Bas Leurs and Gina Lucarelli, UNDP Accelerator Labs — In this blog, we share what the UNDP Accelerator Lab Network is learning about the relationship between digitalization and formalization. This continues our journey as a Network to surface practice-based insights about informality as we also test out new ways of surfacing knowledge. Why does the connection between digitalization and…

By Julia Nebrija, Greg Lindsay and Eduardo Gustale They move millions, employ hundreds of thousands, and support the sizable informal sector in urban economies. They are informal, or entrepreneurial transit modes (think ojeks, tuktuks, jeepneys, matatus or collectivos). They are reliant on the market: people need to go places, and…

By: Emily Anderson, Partnerships Advisor, UNDP Accelerator Labs A raven circles a verdant orchard where ripe, candy-colored apples, pears, and plums shine in the sun. …

Author: Amy Bennett Contributors: Javeria Masood, Head of Solutions Mapping, UNDP Pakistan Accelerator Lab Mohseen Riaz Ud Dean, Head of Community Research and Ethnographic Solutions Mapping, UNDP Pacific Islands Accelerator Lab Gift Ntuli, Head of Experimentation, UNDP Zimbabwe Accelerator Lab Amina Omicevic, Head of Solutions Mapping, UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina Accelerator Lab Marina Olcese, Head of…

Author: Paulina Jiménez, Head of Solution Mapping, Ana M. Grijalva, Head of Exploration, both UNDP Accelerator Lab Ecuador, and Aymé Muzo, Independent Consultant for UNDP. The UNDP Ecuador Accelerator Lab, along with GIZ Ecuador, the GIZ Data Lab, and the University of Manchester, conducted a Data Powered Positive Deviance (DPPD)…

By: Alejandra Cervantes, Technical Advisor, Agenda 2030 Initiative, GIZ Mexico; Daniela Torres, Technical Advisor, Agenda 2030 Initiative, GIZ Mexico; Gabriela Ríos, Head of Exploration, UNDP Mexico Accelerator Lab. In the first installment of this series, we recounted our initial steps in using the Data Powered Positive Deviance (DPPD) method to…

By Tayo Akinyemi This blog captures learning from the UNDP Accelerator Labs’ ongoing process of surfacing lesser-known insights about informality, with a focus on the drivers of digitalization within informal businesses. Digitalizing Informality: A Quick Recap Sensing and surfacing frontier knowledge about emerging challenges in development is at the core of what UNDP Accelerator Labs…