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Digital Public Goods Alliance - 2026
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Insights, stories, and updates on digital public goods and the open-source ecosystem from the Digital Public Goods Alliance.
October 29, 2026
Launching the DPG4AI Collection: Supporting Equitable, Responsible AI Development for the Public Interest
As the global conversation around making AI useful for everyone shifts from a “the bigger, the better” narrative to small, purpose-built, local and open AI, a critical question emerges: How do we ensure that AI tools truly serve people and the public good, rather than just a few concentrated interests?At MozFest, we are excited to officially launch the DPGs for AI (DPG4AI) Collection—a curated portfolio of DPGs designed to drive responsible, equitable, and localised AI development.Co-stewarded by the Digital Public Goods Alliance Secretariat, the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC), the Open Data Institute (ODI), and the Digital Futures Lab, this initiative translates global AI commitments—like those of the UN Global Digital Compact and the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI—into a practical collection of software, data, content and AI model DPGs that advance the responsible development and deployment of AI systems. In a first step, these include trusted data infrastructure, semantic parsers, language datasets, safety tooling and a model comparison platform. Thoughtfulness First: Getting the Foundation RightWhen building a collection intended to serve all builders and adopters, no matter their geography, speed cannot come at the expense of intentionality. From inception, our primary goal was not simply to assemble a long list of open solutions, but to make sure we got it right.In collaboration with our co-stewards and informed by interviews with ecosystem stakeholders, we spent significant effort developing rigorous collection criteria built on the DPG Standard.We deliberately prioritised tools that:Target low-resource contexts & underrepresented domains: Ensuring solutions are adaptable for local developers, governments, and civil society operating under resource constraints.Have relevance at at least one stage of the AI lifecycle: Targeting open-source software, open training/fine-tuning/benchmarking datasets, open AI models, and open content collections relevant at different stages of the AI lifecycle. Demonstrate documented impact & safety: Grounding inclusion into the collection in real-world application and best practices for safety by design.The Excitement Ahead: A Growing Living RepositoryWhile getting the initial foundation right was essential, the launch at MozFest is just the beginning.The open-source AI ecosystem is expanding rapidly, driven by the need for more accountability, cost control and local relevance of AI systems. We're also seeing major advances in edge computing, federated learning, localised dataset creation for training and benchmarking, and frugal AI frameworks. While we take a considerate, slower approach and do not want to push AI systems where they don’t belong and don’t deliver value for people, we plan to evolve the DPG4AI collection alongside these developments. We are thrilled to watch this repository continue to grow on a rolling basis as new tools, models and datasets are submitted and vetted, and we are happy to work closely with DPGA members and ecosystem partners on this, such as CurrentAI, Mozilla, GIZ and UNDP. “With the DPG4AI collection, AI stops being something only a few can afford to build and becomes something everyone can share in, shape, and trust.” - Emily Bennett, Head of Digital Public Solutions, UNICC"We are proud to be co-stewards of the DPGs for AI Collection, working with international partners to identify and champion open, trustworthy resources that support responsible AI development. Our contributions to the collection build on years of experience strengthening the data foundations needed for responsible and trustworthy AI, particularly through our work on data-centric AI and AI-ready data. By making these resources more accessible, we can help countries and communities around the world develop AI that reflects their own needs and priorities, and ensure its benefits are more widely shared." - Professor Elena Simperl, Director of Research at the Open Data InstituteA Call to ActionWhether you represent a project team working on open-source AI, a funder looking for high-impact tools to support, or a policymaker seeking trusted solutions:Explore the collection: Visit the collection page to browse the initial list of curated tools.Help us grow and submit your DPG: Have an open-source AI project, model, or dataset driving sustainable development? Check the DPG Standard and collection criteria and apply to be included.Finance DPG4AI: Use the collection as a curated pipeline to direct funding toward vetted, high-impact public AI components.Together, we can build an AI ecosystem where innovation is open, benefits are shared, and technology is centred around people and their needs.
June 18, 2025
UNICC has joined the Digital Public Goods Alliance!
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.
June 12, 2025
Launching the Global Open-Source Policies & Practices Survey
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.
May 21, 2025
AI systems as digital public goods - a dive into what this means from a slightly more technical perspective
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:
April 7, 2025
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 N...
February 19, 2025
2024 State of the DPG Ecosystem Report is now live!
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...
January 30, 2025
Digital Commons and Digital Public Goods – Finding Common Ground for Policy-makers
Authors: Liv Marte Nordhaug – Digital Public Goods Alliance Secretariat CEO & NGI Commons DCTF Member, Nicholas Gates – Open Forum Europe, NGI Commons This article is co-written by the Digital Public ...
December 18, 2024
Exploring the Potential of Digital Public Goods to Spur Climate Resilience
Author: Jameson Voisin, Director of Programs and Communications, Digital Public Goods Alliance Secretariat Digital public goods (DPGs) are playing a pivotal role in tackling some of the world’s most p...
December 17, 2024
Building momentum for Digital Public Goods – Sharing the DPGA Advocacy Strategy
Author: Jon Lloyd, Director of 50-in-5 and Advocacy, Digital Public Goods Alliance Secretariat Digital public goods (DPGs) are transforming how the world is tackling some of our most pressing global c...
December 12, 2024
How digital public goods can help unlock the public interest potential of AI
Author: Liv Marte Nordhaug, Secretariat CEO, Digital Public Goods Alliance Over the course of the last few months, culminating with in-depth workshops at the recent 2024 Digital Public Goods Alliance ...
November 26, 2024
Highlights from the DPGA Annual Members Meeting in Singapore
Author: Lucy Harris, COO and Interim Director of Membership, DPGA Secretariat Earlier this month, the Digital Public Goods Alliance hosted its 2024 Annual Members Meeting (AMM) in Singapore, bringing ...
November 14, 2024
Transforming the way we learn about DPGs. Introducing the new DPG Registry, Roadmap, Product and Member Profiles!
Author: Pelin Hizal Smines, Product & Experiences Lead As part of the DPGA Secretariat’s efforts to ensure digital public goods (DPGs) are accessible, transparent, and discoverable, we embarked on a p...
November 13, 2024
The DPGA Annual Members Meeting Kicks Off in Singapore by Welcoming Three New Members!
Each year, the DPGA Annual Members Meeting brings together members to strengthen the collective ability to discover, develop, use, and invest in digital public goods. This year’s event, co-hosted by D...
November 6, 2024
New Report Highlights Role of Digital Public Goods for Climate Action
Data Privacy Brasil has released a new report examining the role digital public goods (DPGs) and digital public infrastructure (DPI) could play in addressing and adapting to climate change. This repor...
October 29, 2024
An Invitation to Contribute to Digital Public Goods During Hacktoberfest
Author: Bolaji Ayodeji, DPG Evangelist and Technical Coordinator It’s October, and something happens in the developer community at this time of the year: Hacktoberfest—a month-long celebration of open...
