Welcome to ‘Our First Year in Review’, a look back on initiatives during our first year of operation.

We at Citra wish to express our sincere appreciation to each and every one of you for your continued trust, inspiration and partnership. Thank you!

As you may know, Citra is Sri Lanka’s first Public Sector Innovation Lab, established as a joint initiative between the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The term ‘Citra’ bears the Sanskrit meaning of something ‘strange, wonderful and curious’, which reflects the nature of the work we do, and our team as well. Strange as it may be to some, the work we undertake will result in wonderful new strides for Sri Lanka from a social development standpoint. And the curiosity angle, of course, reflects a trait that is, luckily, found in all of us at the Citra team!

The graphical component of our logo features an object in flux - representing the agility we exercise when dealing with various initiatives, in order to ensure we remain effective and relevant to our work and partners.

The need for an innovation facility that will work closely with the Government in accelerating its work towards achieving the 2030 Agenda was first identified at the National Summit on Foresight and Innovation in May 2016, jointly organized by the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs and UNDP. With the participation of over 350 participants from the public, private and development sectors, and in the presence of esteemed invitees, such as the Honourable Prime Minister, UNDP was tasked to take steps to set up an Innovation Lab for Sri Lanka.

Since then, the team has been working closely with various public sector champions in formulating a concrete work plan and pathway for the establishment of an Innovation Lab that will assist and bring value addition to the work of the public sector.

Fast forward to 2019, and we are celebrating our inaugural year as Sri Lanka’s first Public Sector Innovation Lab! We are excited to share with you our initiatives that have kept us busy this past year through this report.

Our unique positioning as being a part of both the Government and UNDP, has provided us with the privilege of working with multiple stakeholders from across the board. So, as we continue our work in the coming years, we hope to count on your support to work collaboratively with you to become Sri Lanka’s go-to Innovation Partner in co-designing initiatives targeted to achieving the country’s ambitious development goals.

Thank you once again for believing in Citra and for shaping us to be what we are today!