Nepal Innovation Lab
Nepal Innovation Lab (NLab) is an innovation centre located in the heart of Kathmandu Valley. NLab provides a collaborative working environment to ideate, test, prototype, and scale breakthrough solutions for humanitarian and developmental challenges. Innovations that are born in NLab are intentionally co-created with the end users.
Overview
Nepal Innovation Lab (NLab) is an innovation centre located in the heart of Kathmandu Valley. NLab provides a collaborative working environment to ideate, test, prototype, and scale breakthrough solutions for humanitarian and developmental challenges. Innovations that are born in NLab are intentionally co-created with the end users.
NLab was established in 2015 and its working model draws on emerging and global applications of innovation labs to achieve greater social impact. Being one of the first of its kind in the region, it aims to inspire stakeholders to deliver top-notch and effective community-driven solutions.
Our Focus
- Explore Ideas - NLab continuously explores ideas and solutions to the problems that we come across in the humanitarian sector, both internally or in conjunction with external stakeholders.
- Innovation Technical Design - NLab supports WVI Nepal and other organisations in areas like Innovation Technical Services, Problem Identification, Solution Generation, and Prototype Design.
- Innovation at Scale - NLab works towards taking solutions that exist, ideas that have been generated, or partnerships that have been formed to test or scale them within Nepal and beyond.
Our Work
SIKKA
Sikka is a digital tool that facilitates cash and voucher assistance programmes by distributing digital tokens to beneficiaries through a blockchain technology. The tokens can be exchanged for cash or goods at participating merchants, financial cooperatives, or relief centres. SIKKA’s digital tokens are transferred through SMS text messaging. Blockchain transactions are transparent and trackable allowing aid agencies to deploy this last mile distribution tool even in fragile contexts.
KITAB Bazar
KITAB BAZAR is a cutting-edge online marketplace that enables results-based financing as a solution to improve access to supplementary reading materials in schools. The platform simplifies the entire process of selecting, ordering and purchasing books for children in coordination with key stakeholders like municipalities and private publishing houses, which proved quite relevant in COVID-19 operational context.
PDRA
Participatory Disaster Risk Assessment (PDRA) is a set of tools which assess the household and community level existing hazards, disaster risks, vulnerability, resources and capacities, and identifies the plans to mitigate, prevent and manage their impacts at household and communities level.
Design Thinking
NLab supports local and international agencies in the domain of Design Thinking (and Doing!) by helping them to start and finish with the end user in mind. The tailored workshop focuses on finding solutions that actually work through rapid prototyping and ideation. Through the design thinking training workshops, organisations can practice and cultivate the framework of human-centered design and build a toolkit to leverage for future use.
Social Plastics
NLab is exploring the possibilities of reducing plastic waste found in communities. The initiative is focused on creating livelihood related opportunities by innovatively co-creating with different stakeholders to create the right value propositions. The initiative has resulted in repurposing waste plastics to produce low cost and durable materials such as thermal insulation for schools and health centres during emergency, and high strength bricks for housing and squat latrines for vulnerable households and communities. These products have proven vital in supporting and providing relief to the most vulnerable communities in Nepal.
Digital Manufacturing
NLab is exploring how digital manufacturing especially 3D printing technologies and local manufacturing capacities can shorten supply chains in the delivery of humanitarian aid and enable communities to lead innovation and production processes.
Our Partners
