The United Nations Development Programme (U.N.D.P.) officially launched Samoa’s Accelerator Lab on Friday which would be used to tackle challenges associated with sustainable development. 

The Accelerator Lab is a concept that has been years in the making within the U.N.D.P. framework, especially in terms of tackling challenges associated with sustainable development. 

A launching ceremony took place at the Lava Hotel, which was attended by UNDP Resident Representative Jorn Sorensen; U.N. Resident Coordinator Simona Marinescu as well as various Chief Executive Officers of Government Ministries; development partners; the Diplomatic Corps and private sector representatives. 

The purpose of an Accelerator Lab is to try and use innovative methods and thinking to try and solve development challenges. 

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology Chief Executive Officer, Fualau Talatalaga Mata'u said that the launch is a milestone. 

He explained that not only will the Accelerator Labs provide a new set of approaches for addressing complex development issues, but equally important and exciting is the forging of networks with various stakeholders from various sectors, at varying degrees of development on a global stage.

“The lab will also accelerate the [caretaker] Government’s commitment to strengthening Public-Private Partnerships, not only at the national and regional level,” he said. 

Furthermore, he added that Samoa will now join a global network of innovators, which will provide the avenue for which we can learn from and contextualise to the Samoan landscape. 

“Reading from the experiences of other accelerator lab partners, we are already looking forward to working with U.N.D.P.’s accelerator lab on innovative solutions to addressing various challenges faced by our small island nation. 

“We believe that this is a crucial step in Samoa’s work, towards meeting the targets in its Samoa 2040 plan, in addition to meeting the U.N. SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] 2030 Agenda.

“The success of this new Lab will allow U.N.D.P. to identify local innovations and help broaden their potential to accelerate development.”

The C.E.O. added that the [caretaker] Government firmly believes that the approaches adopted by the lab in recognising the importance of locally-sourced and contextualized home grown solutions, will provide more effective and efficient solutions to address 21st century challenges.

He also acknowledged the dedicated U.N.D.P. team for the launching, which sees Samoa joining an innovative network of 92 Accelerator Labs worldwide. 

“We are all aware that Small Island States such as Samoa continue to face numerous challenges ranging from its smallness, to having a narrow resource and export base, exposure to global environmental challenges and external economic shocks, as well as remoteness from most large markets,” he added. 

Fualau said that to address these challenges, the [caretaker] Government have not only put in place the necessary overarching policy directions for development, but have complemented these with the building of resilient critical infrastructure, such as the Tui-Samoa and Manatua Submarine cables, to support and drive these developments.

“But despite these developments, we are all aware that the speed and complexity of today’s challenges are different from previous eras in history, requiring an equally sophisticated range of development solutions, to address complex problems and ensure efficient and effective progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Hence, todays launching of the Accelerator Lab is so crucial and timely. With the launching of the lab, the Samoan Government pledges to promote the development and adoption of platforms and enablers, to accelerate greater take-up of digital technologies and services by governments, businesses, and citizens, in building more connected and inclusive digital communities, contributing to the growth of the digital economy." 

He also confirmed that Digital Transformation is a national priority for the [caretaker] Government.

“And while Samoa is still considered to be in the infancy stages of this transformation, in comparison to others in the Asia-Pacific Region, it is making significant progress towards this direction. 

“Strengthened and complemented by today's launching and the networks forged, I am confident that the lab will combine grassroots innovations, with new sources of real-time data and experimentation, delving deeper and exploring solutions into issues that are prevalent not only to small island states such as youth employment, and climate change but also on a global stage.”