DPGA Blog
Insights, stories, and updates on digital public goods and the open-source ecosystem from the Digital Public Goods Alliance.
June 23, 2026
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.
December 14, 2022
State of the Digital Public Goods Ecosystem 2022 Report
In 2022 countries increasingly recognised and implemented digital public goods as part of their digital transformations. Alongside this growth, the DPGA has seen an increase in the frequency, nuance, ...
December 7, 2022
Call for Submissions of Open Agricultural Advisory Services
The Digital Public Goods Alliance’s Food Security Community of Practice, co-chaired by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO...
November 28, 2022
UN Office of Information and Communications Technology joins the DPGA
Today, the United Nations Office of Information and Communication Technology (OICT) became the latest member of the DPGA. OICT works with digital public goods through their Open Source Software for Su...
November 17, 2022
DPGA launches new nominations portal making it easier for open-source solutions to become digital public goods!
The DPGA believes in the potential of open-source as a catalyst for accelerating the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals. Countless tools exist that can be part of the solutions that policymak...
November 8, 2022
The DPG Charter: Key takeaways on deploying digital public goods as infrastructure
This blog first appeared on the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) website and is written by: Nicholas Gates (DIAL), Chrissy Martin Meier (DPG Charter), Lucy Harris (DPGA), and Viraj Tyagi (eGov Foundatio...
October 20, 2022
The DPG Charter: Key takeaways on building policymaker capacity to adopt and govern digital public infrastructure
This blog first appeared on the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) website and is written by: Nicholas Gates (DIAL), Chrissy Martin Meier (DPG Charter), Lucy Harris (DPGA), and Jean-Philbert Nsengimana (A...
October 6, 2022
The DPG Charter: Key takeaways on supporting digital public goods for the long-term
This blog first appeared on the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) website and is written by: Nicholas Gates (DIAL), Chrissy Martin Meier (DPG Charter), Lucy Harris (DPGA), and Paula Hunter (Mojaloop Foun...
September 27, 2022
Global leaders usher in a new era of digital cooperation for a more sustainable, equitable world
Right to left, Mr. Bill Gates, Co-Chair, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; His Excellency Alar Karis, President, Republic of Estonia; His Excellency, Julius Maada Bio, President, Republic of Si...
September 18, 2022
Digital Public Infrastructure for An Inclusive Future
At the upcoming 77th Session of the UN General Assembly, world leaders alongside members of the private sector and civil society will convene on 21 September for a side-event titled: ‘The Future of Di...
September 15, 2022
Game changer: Why we support the Digital Public Goods Charter
This blog first appeared on the Digital Impact Alliance website and is written by: Chrissy Martin Meier (DPG Charter), Deon Woods Bell (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), David Roos (GIZ), Chris Bu...
September 13, 2022
Bold Investments for Digital Public Infrastructure: Quantifying the Human & Economic Impact
At the upcoming 77th Session of the UN General Assembly, world leaders alongside members of the private sector and civil society will convene on 21 September for a side-event titled: ‘The Future of Di...
September 8, 2022
Government of Bangladesh joins as a new DPGA member
At a June 1 event convened by the Digital Public Goods Alliance, Government of Norway, Government of Sierra Leone, and United Nations Development Programme, global leaders jointly committed to advanci...
September 1, 2022
Rwanda Ministry of ICT and Innovation joins the DPGA
On 1 June 2022, high-level representatives from governments, the philanthropic sector, and international organisations came together to express their commitments to increased collaboration on digital ...
July 28, 2022
Digital Public Goods, International Development Organisations, and Universities: Building communities of contributors to sustain digital projects for the long-term
By: Prof. Assane Gueye, Director of the Upanzi Network at Carnegie Mellon University; Lucy Harris, Co-lead of the Digital Public Goods Alliance; & Benjamin Bertelsen, Digital Consultant, UNDP Earl...
