Video observation of patients, crypto-powered solar panels, behavioral experiments or diving into Big and Thick Data. These are just few things UNDP Moldova and its Innovation Lab (MiLab) is pursuing to accelerate development and achieve the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

“This is a first Dialogue meeting and an opportunity to discuss and brainstorm with you on how we can collaboratively use our knowledge and innovation experience for the benefit of the people of Moldova. A series of dialogues will surely follow with focus on some thematic areas or specific challenges of the complex development landscape we all operate in Moldova,” said Dima Al-Khatib, UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Moldova.

During an Innovation for SDGs Dialogues conducted on 27 September 2019, MiLab presented some pilots that were successfully tested and are ready to be scaled up:

• SDG Accelerator Programme, a one-year business engagement facility, aimed at engaging local SMEs to align their operations to the sustainable business practices and launch new products/services with positive impact on the SDGs.
• Big Data platform for urban development, aiming at overlaying earth-observation, mobility data, georeferenced public transportation data in order to improve mobility and public transportation in the city of Chisinau. The platform shall contribute to reducing CO2 emissions.
• Crypto-powered solar panels, to be installed on public hospitals. The panels are to be leased by private investors online via SunExchange, a global marketplace for purchase and further lease of solar cells. As part of the crowdfunding, SolarCoin cryptocurrency will be granted as a reward to produce renewable energy both to investors as well as beneficiaries, after the solar panels become their property.
• Behavioural experiment on electricity consumption reduction, a partnership between UNDP Moldova, Gas Natural Fenosa Furnizare Energie and The Behavioural Insights Team to reduce household electricity consumption in Chisinau, Moldova, in order to diminish the harmful emissions from power plants. To achieve this goal, the partners co-designed two different letters to be send to households: one of them compared a household’s consumption of electricity in KWh with an “energy-efficient neighbour”, and the other one the amount off the bill. The households that received the behaviorally informed letter conserved 41,059 kWh of electricity compared to those who did not receive the letter, thus eliminating the equivalent of 27,920 kg of CO₂ emissions in one month.
• Redesign of public services, e-service on allowances for parents with children, counselling for unemployed.

“The fact that the private sector is asked to participate in these kind of meetings gives us the opportunity to find common areas of interest in many areas, also the domain of renewables, energy savings. It is an important ray of light that we should use, as we will all benefit from it,” said Jose Luis Gomez Pascual, country manager of Gas Natural Fenosa in Moldova.

“We are also interested in how the achievement of SDGs happens here in Moldova and this meeting was very informative regarding the future perspectives for innovation in Moldova. I am really hopeful for a successful collaboration not only with UNDP, but also with the local partners that were present at the event,” stated Maroš Kramár, Development Cooperation Diplomat at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic.

UNDP supports innovation because today’s challenges cannot be addressed by linear solutions and finding suitable solutions requires a safe-to-fail environment for testing different ideas and scenarios. Only in partnership with Government, companies, development partners, and people, innovation world becomes meaningful.