Under a March 2025 UNDP–Intel MoU, Lesotho set up 40 Digital Skills Learning Labs and trained 40 community 'Digital Ambassadors' using low-connectivity, analogue AI-literacy materials to reach citizens beyond the capital.
40 labs
Digital Skills Learning Labs established
40 people
Community members trained as Digital Ambassadors
Details
Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
UNDP Lesotho (with Intel Corporation)
Period
March 2025 – ongoing
Keywords
digital literacy, citizen engagement, community outreach
Context
Following a March 2025 memorandum of understanding between UNDP's Digital, AI and Innovation Hub and Intel Corporation, UNDP Lesotho rolled out Intel's 'AI for Citizens' (AI Community Experiences) curriculum through a national network of 40 Digital Skills Learning Labs.
Activities
Forty community members — including teachers, religious leaders and local influencers — were trained as 'Digital Ambassadors' through virtual sessions with Intel trainers using games, storytelling and analogue puzzles to explain AI concepts such as computer vision, deliberately designed for Lesotho's low-connectivity areas rather than requiring internet access. The Ambassadors are expected to cascade the training into their own communities to build grassroots AI awareness, supporting Lesotho's stated goal of universal digital access by 2030.
Results
UNDP describes possible future phases extending the model to more communities and additional countries and languages, but as of the programme's own reporting no citizen-level outcome — such as measured literacy gains or service uptake — has yet been published.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Not quantified in sources; delivered through an existing UNDP-Intel partnership and virtual training rather than a described capital investment.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Rolled out following a March 2025 UNDP-Intel MoU; described as ongoing with future phases (more communities, countries and languages) not yet realised.
Staffing & skills
40 community members (teachers, religious leaders, local influencers) trained as Digital Ambassadors, Intel trainers delivered virtual training sessions to the Ambassadors
Conditions for success
Analogue, low-connectivity training materials (games, storytelling, puzzles) designed not to require internet access
A cascade model where trained Ambassadors pass on AI literacy within their own communities
Commonly funded by
Philanthropic / foundation funding
Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.
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Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
The UK's Government Digital Service piloted GOV.UK Chat, a retrieval-augmented generative-AI assistant answering citizens' tax, benefits and visa questions — …
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Guatemala's tax authority SAT built RITA, a Dialogflow-based Spanish-language virtual assistant fielding taxpayer queries since April 2019 — serving 335,000 …
