Unlocking the potential of open-source to drive real-world impact

Canada joins the Digital Public Goods Alliance

The Digital Public Goods Alliance is thrilled to welcome The Government of Canada, through the Canadian Digital Service (CDS), as its newest member.As part of its membership, Canada will enable trusted, hands-on interactions between federal departments and DPGA member countries with technically vetted, adoption-ready software, leading to a more efficient pathway to identifying, adopting, and scaling digital public goods for the benefit of all Canadians.Since its launch in 2017, CDS has worked to bring proven and innovative digital approaches and solutions in support of its mandate of improving service delivery and solving common problems within the GC. CDS strives to power government service delivery by providing the common capabilities needed to reliably and securely provide digital services from end to end. CDS platform products, like many of those from international counterparts, are created to function as DPGs and components of the broader Canadian public infrastructure. They are open-source and readily available for reuse across jurisdictions and sectors. CDS products are also interoperable and are underpinned by strong safeguards that enable broad access and incremental collaborative improvement.

Navigating Alignment in AI Systems as DPGs

Navigating Alignment in AI Systems as DPGsDuring this year’s UN Open Source Week in New York, many discussions will address AI as both a significant opportunity and a challenge for digital public goods (DPGs) and the wider open-source ecosystem. Simultaneously, the debate of the characteristics of AI systems as DPGs continues, transcending the DPG Standard while rooted in OSI’s definition of open-source AI. The G7 also recently published its vision on openness in AI systems, including a description of elements that determine the different levels of openness. The fact is that today there's no global consensus on what openness in AI systems actually means.At the DPGA Secretariat, we are focused on operationalising the commitments of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) to “develop, disseminate and maintain, through multi-stakeholder cooperation, [...] open data, [and] open artificial intelligence models” to help achieve the SDGs by 2030. However, translating these high-level ambitions into operational practices is part of a complex implementation process. Welcoming this ongoing debate as a vital step forward, we turn our attention to the new report commissioned by the DPGA member, the Asian Development Bank: “AI Systems as Digital Public Goods: Evidence and Recommendations from a Multi-Stakeholder Assessment”. The report was produced by the United Nations University Macau in partnership with the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies (UN ODET), and arrives at a critical time. It provides valuable input into our ongoing standard-setting process as we review how the open data clause of the DPG Standard applies to AI systems one year after its last update. Strategic Alignment with the DPG Standard and the DPGA Secretariat’s WorkWhen the DPGA Secretariat updated the DPG Standard for AI systems in 2025—following extensive consultations within our AI Community of Practice co-hosted with UNICEF—we deliberately set a high, aspirational bar. We wanted to move the conversation away from treating AI as an isolated technology, toward a holistic view of AI as a socio-technical system.The now-published “AI Systems as Digital Public Goods” report organises its recommendations around the SAFE mnemonic — Standard, Accountability, Finance, Equity — and is candid that several of its recommendations fall beyond the DPGA Secretariat's current mandate. These are still valuable precisely because they are ecosystem-level responsibilities, shared across multilateral development banks, donors, governments, and standard-setters alike. Here is how those recommendations map against the DPG Standard as it stands today, and where we either already meet the suggested requirements or see things differently.

UNFCCC Technology Mechanism joins the Digital Public Goods Alliance

The Digital Public Goods Alliance is excited to welcome UN Climate Change and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) as its newest members.As part of their membership, UN Climate Change and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) will help strengthen the global digital public goods ecosystem by advancing the use of open, accessible, and interoperable digital solutions for climate action and sustainable development. This includes supporting the adoption and scaling of digital public goods through initiatives such as the DPGs for Climate Action Collection, a curated set of trusted digital public goods that support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Through their work on climate technology, digital innovation, and initiatives such as #AI4ClimateAction, UN Climate Change and the CTCN will also help connect governments, technology providers, practitioners, and innovators to accelerate the deployment of impactful digital solutions, particularly in developing countries.