Prime Minister and Ministers give green light to operationalising Citra 3.0

High-level representatives from across Ministries at the meeting  

High-level co-conveners at the meeting

 Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena co-convenes meeting

• Initiative to re-inventing Sri Lanka’s first Social Innovation Lab 

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena convened a meeting on Wednesday with the Co-Chairs of the Citra Social Innovation Lab Governance Board, Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake, and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Sri Lanka Resident Representative Azusa Kubota, together with State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe, State Minister of Technology Kanaka Herath, Technology Ministry Secretary Dr. Dharmasri Kumaratunga, Public Administration Ministry Additional Secretary M. L. Gammampila, and representatives from the Education, Finance and Planning, Public Administration, and Technology Ministries on operationalising Citra 3.0. 

Staying agile, relevant and fit-for-purpose is essential for the successful operation of any innovation facility, and the Citra Social Innovation Lab, South Asia and Sri Lanka’s first social innovation lab, has already reinvented itself twice in its five years of operation, and is currently undergoing its third iteration, with a view to becoming a transformational public sector innovation lab. 

Further to the findings of an independent review conducted in 2023, during the next five years of a transitional period towards the public sector innovation lab, it was agreed upon that Citra will continue to be anchored at the Prime Minister’s Office as a joint initiative with UNDP to leverage its global expertise and knowledge base, and will operate closely with four lead Ministries – Education, Finance and Planning, Public Administration, and Technology Ministries. The lab will focus on three workstreams – namely, systems transformation, public sector innovation and policy coherence – and will operate through four key enablers – digital, data, innovation, and service design.

Citra Lab, a joint initiative between the Government and UNDP Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka’s first Social Innovation Lab, was established in 2018 through a Cabinet memo. In 2022, following a review, through a further Cabinet memo, the Lab was anchored under the Prime Minister’s Office. Citra is a part of UNDP supported global innovation facilities, working closely with diverse innovation facilities across the world.