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The Digital Public Goods Alliance is committed to the long-term success of digital public goods (DPGs), including helping those who run and maintain DPGs to make their voices heard. In response to a shifting funding landscape, DPG product owners have come together to issue an open letter reminding digital transformation supporters from different focus areas worldwide of the vital role DPGs play in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.DPGs are already helping countries and organisations deliver public services more effectively and are serving as the solutions needed to address critical challenges—from climate change and healthcare to education, financial inclusion, strengthening information integrity efforts, and beyond. They are also enabling more effective digital transformation by helping countries and organisations avoid duplication, reduce costs, and scale impact through open, interoperable, adaptable technologies that can be tailored to local contexts. As development assistance models evolve, the cost, speed, and collaboration advantages of DPGs underscore why they are the solutions we need now more than ever.This letter, written and signed by more than 15 product owners, encourages governments, funders, civil society organisations, technologists—including system integrators and hyperscalers—and all others across the ecosystem to read and reflect on the important call to actions highlighted within the letter, and consider how they can help ensure the continued sustainability of DPGs.

This year’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Norway brought together global leaders, technologists, and policymakers to build trust, resilience and digital cooperation to ensure technology and future innovation is sustainable, accessible, and rights respecting. The Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA) was proud to contribute to this momentum by spotlighting the role of digital public goods (DPGs) and open-source solutions as key enablers of IGF’s goals. At a time when countries are seeking ways to build digital systems that are both cost effective and equitable, the DPGA used its presence at IGF to make the case that DPGs—open-source, interoperable tools designed for public benefit—are not only viable, but vital for achieving safe, inclusive, and interoperable digital public infrastructure.

UNICC has joined the Digital Public Goods Alliance! The announcement happened during the UN Open Source Week side event “Accelerate SDG Impact, Scaling Open Source”, with Lucy Harris, COO, DPGA Secretariat; Emily Bennett, Head of Digital Public Solutions, UNICC; and Anish Sethi, Chief, Digital Solutions Centre, UNICC.As a member of the DPGA, The United Nations International Computing Centre marked a strategic step forward in its mission to enable inclusive and sustainable digital transformation across the UN system, other international organisations, and governments.“Joining the DPGA is a natural extension of our mission to support the United Nations’ digital transformation journey. Our technical and strategic contributions can help ensure that digital public goods are developed and deployed in a way that reflects the values, needs, and standards of the UN system.” said Sameer Chauhan, Director, UNICC.“We are proud to welcome UNICC to the DPGA. Their membership not only supports the United Nations’ digital transformation journey but also strengthens the DPG ecosystem by contributing potential new solutions to the DPG Registry. Beyond advocating for open, scalable solutions across the UN system, UNICC helps expand the adoption of DPGs where they’re needed most, ultimately accelerating digital cooperation efforts to achieve the SDGs.”, added Liv Marte Nordhaug, CEO, Digital Public Goods Alliance Secretariat.

Today the DPGA Secretariat, in coordination with twenty-four organisations, is launching the Global Open Source Policies & Practices Survey. Directed at governments and organizations, this survey aims to significantly improve understanding of the current landscape of open-source policies, principles, and frameworks among governments and organizations.

The DPGA is now accepting submissions for AI systems! This post provides a practical overview and detailed description of the requirements outlined in the DPG Standard that an AI system must meet to be recognized as a digital public good and listed on the DPG Registry.How we got here ?A digital public good (DPG) entails much more than simply being open software, open data, an open content collection, or an open AI system. DPGs are open-source solutions that must also be accessible, adaptable, and designed to do no harm. Therefore, to be recognised as a DPG, a solution must demonstrate adherence to the DPG Standard to ensure those important elements are embedded into the design of a digital solution and, by doing so, can facilitate more impactful and safe technology deployment. In 2023, recognising both the immense potential of AI for development as well as the risks associated with it, the DPGA Secretariat, in collaboration with UNICEF, convened a dedicated Community of Practice (CoP) on AI systems. This group was brought together to specifically examine how the DPG Standard may need to adapt to better determine what constitutes AI systems as a type of DPG and to explore the intersection between open and responsible AI. Alongside a set of recommendations from the CoP on AI systems, the DPGA Secretariat closely monitored and participated in relevant conversations that were also taking place. This included the OSI's Open Source AI Definition (OSAID), the Linux Foundation’s Model Openness Framework (MOF), and consultations with DPGA members actively working on AI, such as OpenFuture, Creative Commons, and the Open Knowledge Foundation.Following an open commenting period on GitHub, the DPG Standard Council carefully considered inputs surfaced throughout this process and, as part of a set of updates to the DPG Standard, introduced changes to strengthen the transparency and accountability of AI system DPGs while ensuring that they meet consistent requirements across all DPG categories.What's an AI system, anyway?Before diving into the specific updates, it’s valuable to provide an understanding of what is meant by “AI system,” as it has implications for the components that must be DPG Standard compliant. We recognise AI systems as machine-based systems designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments, or generate outputs, such as text, images, or sounds.This understanding aligns with OECD guidelines on AI (Recommendation of the Council on Artificial Intelligence, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2019)In order to be recognised as a DPG status, AI systems must provide the following components, alongside the following requirements:

Over the past five years, there has been increasing recognition throughout the United Nations System of the pivotal role that open source can play in accelerating the advancement of the Sustainable De...

2024 was a year filled with numerous highlights for the digital public goods Ecosystem, underscoring the vital and positive impact that DPGs can facilitate across all of the Sustainable Development Go...

This article is co-written by the Digital Public Goods Alliance and NGI Commons. You can find another version of this article on the NGI Commons website. Digital Commons can be a fuzzy term to some, b...

Digital public goods (DPGs) are playing a pivotal role in tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges, including access to finance, healthcare, and education. Similarly, with over 20 DPGs re...