Journey of HackaDev 2018

HackaDev is a collection of unique and interconnected service offerings influencing the eco systems of youth development, social innovation, entrepreneurship and the digital economy targeted at enabling Sri Lanka's youth population to acquire the necessary skills to develop innovative solutions and be entrepreneurial and contribute towards the economic, social and environmental development of the country.

THE PILLARS OF HACKADEV

National Youth Social Innovation Challenge

The National Youth Social Innovation Challenge is Sri Lanka's premier platform for young people provide innovative solutions to development challenges. Piloted initially as a social innovation Hackathon in 2015, and after a few more iterations, the programme was scaled up Nationally in 2017. As of 2019, the programme offers a structured journey for young people from the stage they are ideating to creating a prototype that is eligible for seed funding.

Learning and Skills Academy

UNDP has identified the increasing opportunity of imparting knowledge, building skills and changing mindsets of Sri Lanka's youth population on Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Building on the success of the 'Technopreneurship for Social Change' initiative piloted in 2017, and implemented nationwide in 2018 at 20 locations, HackaDev will establish its own 'HackaDev Academy' bringing under its umbrella a package of learning and skills offerings ranging from Digital Literacy, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and many more.

Establishing a 'Digital for Social Innovation Incubator'

Addressing a massive gap in the ecosystem to bridge young people with ideas with opportunity and investment, UNDP along with its partners are on the cusp of establishing a 'Digital for Social Innovation Incubator' at a national level. The incubator, a physical space for 40 ‘digital for social’ startups to be incubated with seed funding, will be an epicentre for knowledge exchange, incentivising entrepreneurship.

For more visit www.hackadev.lk