Technology has enabled citizens to increasingly connect around shared interests and goals. Hence for the public sector, the most direct and effective way to facilitate social and economic progress is to encourage organizations and citizens in similar situations to co-create solutions with the government.
The SDG Challenge Cup aimed to identify and work with teams including private innovation firms, academic institutions, NGOs and public institutions working on innovative solutions to transform citizen facing services and also help the government departments transform from inside i.e. transform internal processes of the government departments to make them more efficient and effective in providing services to the citizens.
The service providers hence identified through the SDG Challenge Cup will help to move service delivery from a transactional approach to a holistic, citizen-centered perspective where citizens and service providers play an active and ongoing role in delivering user-centered effective services in the light of Sustainable Development Goals.
Government Innovation Lab (GIL) engaged in conversations with end users, researched their needs and requirements, analyzed data and consulted with government departments to identify gaps in service design and delivery in order to come up with themes for the competition. The shortlisted themes for the SDG Challenge Cup were:
- Goal 1: No Poverty
- Goal 4: Quality Education
- Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Methodology
Sector Selection Sessions
MAPS for SDGs in Balochistan experts team arranged SDG sector selection meetings with UNDP, Government of Balochistan, Academia and GIL respectively. The experts were engaged in conversation with end users, researched their needs and requirements, analyzed data and consulted with government departments to identify gaps in service design and delivery in order to come up with prioritized SDGs in Balochistan to be up taken for SDG Challenge Cup.
Call for SDG Challenge Cup
The SDG Challenge Cup followed a competition-based selection process. The challenge was open to organizations, teams and individuals who wish to deliver an innovative idea to improve the quality of life of citizens that contribute to the prioritized SDGs shortlisted in the final Sector Selection Session. Competition was open for all organizations working to enhance governance and livelihood conditions in the country through the use of innovation and technology.
Shortlisting of Ideas
GIL experts panel performed initial scrutiny of Ideas submitted through Google Form made available at GIL official website www.giluob.xyz by 10th December 2020.
MAPS for SDGs in Balochistan Project evaluated the applications and shortlisted projects falling under the selected sectors that are highly impactful, effective, cost-efficient, and sustainable and have the potential to scale. All Proposals have been evaluated based on the following Technical criteria:
- Quality of the Solution Proposed
- Sustainability and Potential to Scale
- Proposed Methodology
- Geographical and Social Impact
- Financial Planning
- Local Significance of the Idea
- Target Audience Scope from the Native Population of Balochistan
Ideation Workshop
14 Ideas with potential to scale and alignment with the theme of the SDG Challenge Cup were shortlisted from the pool and were invited for the Ideation Workshop on 15th December 2020. The ideation workshop was designed to mentor the ideas and perform activities to align the ideas to achieve SDGs, targets and indicators. Mentors and judges were invited to guide and evaluate the ideas submitted. Dr Mir Dost (Director ORIC Lasbela University Balochistan), Mr. Habibullah Khan Nasar (Social Policy Analyst UNDP), Mr. Imran Ali (Assistant Professor University of Balochistan), Mr. Muhammad Javaid (CEO Reliable Technologies), Mr. Muhammad Jawad (Director Training Science & IT Department), and Mr. Shakoor Ahmed (SMEDA Provincial Chief Balochistan) were invited as mentors and judges. A total of 9 ideas qualified for the next round, evaluated through activites and interviews.
Design Thinking Workshop
A two-days design thinking workshop was designed to help the ideas in shaping into international standards through the design thinking process. Facilitator, mentors and experts from academia engaged the teams with one-one conversation and assistance. The workshop provided opportunity for the teams to untangle problems together by going through a series of group exercises designed to get to a specific outcome.
