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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.

UNFCCC Technology Mechanism joins the Digital Public Goods Alliance

The Digital Public Goods Alliance is excited to welcome UN Climate Change and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) as its newest members.As part of their membership, UN Climate Change and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) will help strengthen the global digital public goods ecosystem by advancing the use of open, accessible, and interoperable digital solutions for climate action and sustainable development. This includes supporting the adoption and scaling of digital public goods through initiatives such as the DPGs for Climate Action Collection, a curated set of trusted digital public goods that support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Through their work on climate technology, digital innovation, and initiatives such as #AI4ClimateAction, UN Climate Change and the CTCN will also help connect governments, technology providers, practitioners, and innovators to accelerate the deployment of impactful digital solutions, particularly in developing countries.

The Wikimedia Foundation joins the Digital Public Goods Alliance

The Digital Public Goods Alliance is excited to welcome the Wikimedia Foundation as its newest member. As part of its membership, the Wikimedia Foundation will undertake activities that strengthen the global digital public goods ecosystem through both technical infrastructure investment and policy advocacy. This includes strengthening Wikimedia Cloud Services, the platform that supports many of the volunteer developed tools behind Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, with improvements focused on scalability, security, usability, and innovation. The organisation will also continue advancing advocacy efforts around open knowledge infrastructure, open-source first approaches, responsible public interest AI, and the role of digital public goods in supporting information integrity and inclusive digital participation worldwide.“The Wikimedia Foundation is honored to become an official member of the Digital Public Goods Alliance. This membership reaffirms our commitment to the importance of open knowledge as a public good, ensuring it remains accessible, rights-based, and governed in the public interest. Wikipedia, Wikidata, and other Wikimedia projects show how hundreds of thousands of people working together across borders can create and maintain free and open knowledge infrastructure built in the public interest. As the host of these projects, we look forward to sharing our learnings and collaborating more closely with fellow DPGA members who share our vision of an internet that protects and promotes community-led spaces,” said Jan Gerlach, Public Policy Director at the Wikimedia Foundation. “We warmly welcome the Wikimedia Foundation to the Digital Public Goods Alliance. Wikipedia and Wikidata have long demonstrated the transformative power of open, community driven digital public goods to advance access to knowledge worldwide. The organization’s leadership in strengthening open knowledge infrastructure and advocating for digital public goods will further strengthen the global DPG ecosystem and support more inclusive and equitable access to trusted knowledge online,” said Liv Marte Nordhaug, CEO of the DPGA Secretariat.Wikipedia and Wikidata were officially verified as digital public goods in 2025 and added to the DPG Registry, reflecting their important role in advancing open, community driven knowledge infrastructure worldwide.To learn more about the Wikimedia Foundation joining the DPGA, visit their announcement.To learn more about the activities they will be undertaking as part of their DPGA membership, visit the Roadmap.