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Regional Initiative Accelerator

Countries around the world are navigating digital transformations. As part of that process, ITU membership needs new ways to jump-start digital development on regional priorities.

The Regional Initiative Accelerator (RI Accelerator) provides an open platform where stakeholders can co-create and refine concepts for moving projects along faster.

The RI Accelerator is a service of the Digital Transformation Lab – part of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development. In that spirit, stakeholders are encouraged to use innovation to propel their regional initiatives.

The RI Accelerator was launched in October 2024 in Valletta, Malta, at a meeting of the Digital Innovation Board of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development.

Narrowing the digital-innovation gap

The RI Accelerator mechanism holds promise for helping countries and regions move quickly to accomplish their digital development goals. The RI Accelerator approach could particularly benefit Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States.

How does it work?

The RI Accelerator is a mechanism using innovative processes, tools, and frameworks established as a product of the Digital Transformation Lab (one of the vehicles of the Alliance) to establish a new and more effective approach for how BDT supports the implementation of regional initiatives.

It is A process for accelerating regional initiatives by:

Kick-starting ideation and definition of RIs and project concepts based on stakeholder engagement
Supporting the definition and implementation of critical milestones of ITU regional initiatives

The RI Accelerator Projects

Regional Initiative Accelerator Workshop on Strengthening the Emergency Preparedness Capabilities in the Western Balkan Countries
The RI Accelerator's first pilot seeks to make emergency telecommunications more reliable across the Western Balkans so countries can respond effectively in a crisis.

The project got under way in February 2025 with a workshop in Podgorica, Montenegro.
Workshop participants identified opportunities to build digital resilience and emergency response and worked on a blueprint to promote collaboration and progress.

Regional Initiative Accelerator Workshop on Enabling Policy and Regulatory Environments to Accelerate Digital Transformation

The Asia and the Pacific Regional Initiative Accelerator Workshop took place from 27–29 April 2025 in Shenzhen, China, in connection with the BRICS event. This three-day workshop was jointly organized by ITU, the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology, and the China Branch of the BRICS Institute of Future Networks.