Meet us at Istanbul Innovation Days 2025!

Alongside regional partners and colleagues, the Innovation team at UNDP Europe and Central Asia is running several sessions at Istanbul Innovation Days (IID) 2025 to showcase how institutional innovation is taking shape across our region, and we’re eager to share ideas, learn from your experiences, and maybe grab a coffee between sessions!

Here is where you can find us during IID:

Institutions in the Age of AI Agents: An Interactive Workshop

Date: 25 March
Time: 16:30-18:00
Location: Bern Room

This hands-on session, run by our digital team members Andreas Pawelke, Ievgen Kylymnyk and Aditi Soni, explores how autonomous AI agents could transform organizational structures and governance. Participants will experience a live demonstration of current agentic AI capabilities, from autonomous task completion to multi-agent collaboration. Together, we’ll envision and map out potential future institutions – from organizational structures with AI middle management to governmental bodies with automated decision systems.

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Blockchain-Based Digital Payments

Date: 25 March
Time: 16:30-18:00
Location: Zurich Room

Blockchain-based digital payments are disrupting traditional banking systems. We are getting close to one billion digital wallets globally, while crypto transactions on stablecoins are over 1 trillion USD per month. In this session co-hosted with Stellar Development Foundation, we provide space to explore the impact of digital payments on established public institutions, rethinking remittances, domestic payment systems, cash disbursement, tokenization of bonds or carbon credits. Participants will gain hands-on experience with digital payments, explore the practical applications of blockchain finance, and receive expert guidance on what these technologies might mean for their institution/organization. This interactive workshop is organized by our digital payments team, Robert Pasicko, Cynthia Khoury and Burcu Mavis, with guest speakers from our partner Stellar Development Foundation.

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From Silos to Systems: How Mission-based Approaches are Reshaping Local Governance

Date: 26 March
Time: 12:00-13:30
Location: Main Plenary

This session looks at how mission-oriented portfolio approaches are transforming traditional governance models in cities across Eastern Partnership countries and beyond. Based on experiences from mayors and city leaders, participants will examine how systems thinking and portfolios enable new ways of engaging citizens and multi-stakeholder collaboration. The session will demonstrate how local-level institutions can move from siloed interventions to connected initiatives that address complex urban challenges. This session is run by colleagues from our urban innovation team, Yaera Chung, Elina Jarvela, and Shreya Krishnan, with speakers from Dark Matter Labs, City of Bratislava and the Welfare Improvement Network.

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Rebuilding Digital Institutions: Block by Block (Lunch chat)

Date: 26 March
Time: 13:45-14:30
Location: Lausanne Room

This interactive lunch session challenges participants to reimagine the institutional foundations of digital transformation. Moving beyond conventional approaches that often reinforce existing power dynamics, we’ll use a modular “building block” methodology to design new institutional models from the ground up. Participants will join one of the groups, each focusing on a critical component of future digital institutions. Within these groups, attendees will actively shape these building blocks, defining their key features, transformative potential, and how they connect with other components. This session is facilitated by Andreas Pawelke from our digital team, together with Giulio Quaggiotto. Expert speakers include Vukosi Marivate, Nanjira Sambuli, Fabro Steibel. Adriana Groh and Kiri Mikaere [all TBC].

Learn more about IID and see the full program here. If you’re attending IID, you can sign up for the interactive workshops here. If you can’t attend IID, you can still join us by registering to tune into the live stream of main plenary sessions.