OpenFn
Data ExchangeOpenFn is an open-source workflow automation and data integration platform that connects systems through more than 70 adaptors, handling ETL, API orchestration and webhook processing. It is in the collection as a data exchange building block, processing over 10 million transactions a year across 43 countries for governments, UN agencies and NGOs.
- DPG Profile: https://www.digitalpublicgoods.net/r/openfn
- Website: https://www.openfn.org/
- Source code: https://github.com/OpenFn/lightning
All DPGs in the DPGs for DPI Collection are assessed by the DPGA Secretariat against the DPGs for DPI criteria v2.0. Assessments use publicly available documentation and link to their evidence below. Assessed September 2026.
14 of 18 checks met
4 partially met
Layer 1
Recognised DPG
Layer 2
DPI Relevance
Layer 3
DPI Architecture Alignment
Layer 1 Recognised Digital Public Good
Listed in the DPG Registry.
Layer 2 DPI Relevance
Does it provide a foundational DPI function, reusable across sectors, at population scale?
Core function is integration and workflow automation between otherwise disconnected systems, placing it in the Data Exchange domain. It is sector-agnostic in use — health, social protection, education, agriculture and humanitarian response — and operates at population scale, managing over 50 million records.
- OpenFn for DPI: https://www.openfn.org/dpi
- OpenFn: https://www.openfn.org/
Layer 3 DPI Architecture Alignment
How the solution's architecture reflects the principles that distinguish DPI from conventional digitisation.
A · Interoperability
3/3Can other systems connect without modifying the core, using documented open standards?
REST APIs, webhook endpoints and CLI tools are documented, including the Lightning platform API. It provides HL7 FHIR adaptors and is an OpenHIE-compliant reference technology, exchanging JSON over REST and supporting CSV, XML, FHIR and other formats through its adaptor library.
- Standards: https://docs.openfn.org/documentation/get-started/standards
- Documentation: https://docs.openfn.org/
B · Minimalist & Reusable Design
2/3Is it a modular building block that does one thing well, rather than a monolithic platform?
The Lightning platform is decoupled from its adaptors, which are independently versioned and deployable, and new use cases are handled through project configuration rather than forking. The infrastructure-versus-application distinction is less sharp here, since OpenFn is itself the integration layer.
- Lightning source code: https://github.com/OpenFn/lightning
- Deployment guide: https://github.com/OpenFn/lightning/blob/main/DEPLOYMENT.md
C · Ecosystem Enablement
3/3Can other public and private actors build on top of it?
More than 70 open-source adaptors exist and organisations can build their own for any API or system. WHO Go.Data, DHIS2, CommCare and multiple governments and NGOs actively use and extend it, and the LGPL-3.0 licence with a self-hosting option means no lock-in to OpenFn the company.
- Documentation: https://docs.openfn.org/
- Community: https://community.openfn.org/
- Source code (LGPL-3.0): https://github.com/OpenFn/lightning
D · Federation Readiness
1/3Can it run in distributed or federated deployments suited to national infrastructure?
Self-hosting with Docker keeps data on the deployer's own infrastructure. The platform is designed as a single instance, hosted or self-hosted, with no explicit federation between instances; the hosted service runs in a high-availability cloud configuration, but high-availability patterns for self-hosted deployments are not prominently documented.
- Deployment guide: https://github.com/OpenFn/lightning/blob/main/DEPLOYMENT.md
- Trust: https://www.openfn.org/trust
E · Security & Privacy at Scale
2/3Does it meet the security and privacy bar for population-scale infrastructure?
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, credentials are encrypted at rest, and access controls and audit logging are in place. A privacy policy and data handling documentation are published with no unnecessary retention; trust and compliance pages exist, but no formal vulnerability disclosure policy was found.
- Security: https://docs.openfn.org/documentation/get-started/security
- Trust: https://www.openfn.org/trust
- Privacy policy: https://www.openfn.org/privacy
Criteria: DPGs for DPI Collection criteria v2.0 · Co-stewarded by CDPI, Co-Develop and the DPGA Secretariat.
Spot something out of date? Contact the DPGA
