Sri Lanka, April 7 -- It was a bright sunny November afternoon in Sri Lanka, but quite a number of people, from young adults to those in their 20s were gathered indoors, in a room inside the American Center in Colombo. Some were playing a game on a large screen, while others were gathered around the tables on the side of the room. They were celebrating the conclusion of a period of study at Makerspace, a program that aims to foster innovation by connecting young inventors, entrepreneurs and educators with technology and other resources.

For instance, among the young innovators was Judittan Loshan, who has developed a system that could monitor the availability of irrigation water to each farm as they are released from the canal. Shian Fer...