Advancing Digital Public Goods via the UN Open Source Principles

Authors: Lucy Harris, DPGA Secretariat COO & Omar Mohsine, Co-chair, UN Open Source United Community of Practice

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 Development Goals. This is underscored by the UN’s adoption of digital public goods (DPGs) to advance its own work, which showcases their ability to address real-world challenges.

The UN plays a crucial role in digital transformation by establishing global frameworks, such as the Global Digital Compact (GDC). The GDC prominently mentions the value and importance of DPGs, and aims to ensure that technological advancements are accessible and equitable. With this in mind, the DPGA Secretariat warmly welcomes the launch of the United Nations’ Open Source Principles and acknowledges their potential to unlock the benefits of DPGs.

Issued by the “Open Source United” community of practice and approved by the UN Chief Executive Board’s Digital Technology Network, the United Nations’ Open Source Principles provide guidance to institutions, including UN agencies, funds and programmes on the creation, use, and adoption of open source. 

This can help improve the effectiveness and sustainability of open-source solutions, including DPGs. This is important given that the UN has created and maintains approximately 20 DPGs including Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform; WaPOR; DiCRA; and Kindly in addition to playing an active role in the implementation of over 50 other DPGs.

The DPG Registry, maintained by the DPGA Secretariat, serves as a platform where UN agencies and other organisations can put the open-source principles into action. Here, they can discover DPGs which are not only open-source, but have also been assessed against criteria related to SDG-relevance, openness, and do-no-harm-by-design, and can be used, developed and scaled across the UN and beyond. Additionally, it provides an opportunity to identify gaps and explore possibilities for creating new solutions that can be made available as DPGs.

The potential for open-source solutions and DPGs  to accelerate attainment of the SDGs has never been greater. With the new UN-wide alignment reinforced by these principles, the UN is committed to unlocking the potential of open source and advancing DPGs. This effort acknowledges the ability of DPGs to transform lives, strengthen economies, and foster a more equitable world where all countries have access to the digital technologies necessary for lasting and sustainable change.