Digital Public Goods Alliance

Digital Public Goods Alliance The Digital Public Goods Alliance seeks to convene a network of partners from different sectors that will contribute the identification, support, scale-up, and proper use of digital public goods, and the software, data, content and algorithms that drive them, in order to advance humanity. Incubated by UNICEF and Norway, the Alliance relies on engagement and leadership from key “pathfinder” countries, private sector technology experts, implementing organizations and innovation groups across the UN system. The UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, in its report published on June 10th 2019, recommends (as 1B) “broad and multi-stakeholder participation in global efforts to facilitate the creation and sharing of digital public goods, defined as open source software, open data, open AI models, open standards and open content that adhere to privacy and other applicable best practices, do no harm and are of high relevance for attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. With the encouragement of UN Secretary-General Antònio Guterres; Norway, Sierra Leone, UNICEF and iSPIRT are collaborating closely with other stakeholders to implement this recommendation. You are welcome to join us in our vision of a better world through the development and implementation of Digital Public Goods. The Alliance members will contribute resources and expertise along the path towards creating and deploying the platform that would serve as a storefront of digital public goods which broadly includes four phases: Identify and Source: Partnerships will be developed for sourcing DPGs, including from UNICEF’s Venture Fund and their regular call of applications, the UN Innovation Network and the International Development Innovation Alliance. Assess and Support: DPGs will be vetted against minimum standards and supported through financing partnerships including the UNICEF Venture Fund. Increase Access to Solutions that Work: The “storefront” of digital public goods will make visible vetted open-source solutions, showcasing the Alliance’s work to generate interest from future partners. Deploy and Use: strategies and partnerships will be developed for supporting uptake and localization among relevant end users. An Interim Advisory Group (IAG), composed of representatives from the private sector, open source businesses, academia, non-governmental organizations, governments, and the UN, is being set up to help guide this process and provide expert advice . Distribution and support for scaling The Alliance is developing strategies and partnerships to support the uptake and localization of digital public goods. This work will take differing forms depending on the type of digital public good and the intended end user, from facilitating access to support systems and communities of practice, to building partnerships with technology companies and mobile network operators to reach end users at scale. Financing new DPGs and helping new sustainability models emerge As it becomes clearer where new and adapted technologies are most needed, various modalities will be explored for incentivizing the development of, upkeep and new iterations of digital public goods. Resources from existing mechanisms for funding digital public goods, such as the UNICEF Innovation Fund, will be leveraged. This will include both traditional donor or private sector funding and support, as well as blockchain-based solutions for connecting needs, contributors, and incentives in a more distributed way.