UNU Leads Two Sessions at UN Open Source Week

The United Nations Open Source Week is scheduled to take place from June 22 to June 26 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

On June 25, a day set aside to highlight Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs), the United Nations University will lead two sessions. These sessions are designed to demonstrate the significant role that OSPOs play in advancing sustainable development and facilitating digital transformation for the benefit of society.

Data Governance for the Public Good: Equity, Openness and Community Stewardship

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This workshop explores how data governance can better serve the public good in an increasingly digital world. As governments, institutions and communities embrace digital transformation, the role of open ecosystems grounded in open source and open data has become essential to fostering innovation, transparency and inclusive development. The session focuses on a central question: how can data governance models become more equitable, participatory and responsive to the needs of the communities they impact? It highlights the importance of involving diverse stakeholders, particularly Indigenous Peoples and local communities, not only as beneficiaries, but also as active stewards and decision-makers in data ecosystems. Bringing together policymakers, practitioners, civil society actors and technical experts, the workshop creates a space for dialogue and co-creation across sectors. Participants will examine how openness can enable fairer digital ecosystems, share experiences and challenges, and explore collaborative approaches to strengthening trust and accountability in data governance. The workshop aims to move beyond discussion by identifying practical pathways for action. Through collective exchange, it seeks to contribute to emerging global efforts toward more inclusive digital cooperation and to advance governance models that ensure data serves society as a whole.

The first session, “Data Governance for the Public Good: Equity, Openness and Community Stewardship”, takes place in Conference Room A at 12:00 PM and is led by the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies (UN ODET), the United Nations University – Operating Unit on Policy-driven Electronic Governance (UNU‑EGOV), and the United Nations Trade and Development (UN CTAD).

The workshop examines how data governance can better serve the public good in the context of digital transformation, emphasising the role of open ecosystems based on open source and open data. It focuses on making governance models more equitable, participatory and responsive, highlighting the importance of involving diverse stakeholders, particularly Indigenous Peoples and local communities, as active contributors to decision-making.

The discussion brings together representatives from governments, international organisations and civil society, including Nurul Sofia (Permanent Mission of Indonesia), Daniela Garcia (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador), Claire Melamed (UN Foundation), Vidisha Mishra (Global Solutions Initiative), Yanchun Zhang (United Nations Development Programme - UNDP), and Guilherme Canela de Souza Godoi (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO). The session is moderated in person by Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen (UNU-EGOV) and online by Francesco Stabilito (UN ODET).

By bringing together actors from across sectors, the session promotes dialogue, shared learning, and collaborative approaches to strengthen trust, accountability, and inclusivity in data governance, while identifying practical pathways to advance data-driven initiatives that benefit society as a whole.

AI as a Digital Public Good: Insights from ADB’s Research

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be considered a type of Digital Public Good (DPG). However, alongside its significant potential, it introduces new challenges compared to traditional DPGs. The existing DPG standard does not fully accommodate AI, as safeguarding principles - such as “privacy by design” and “do no harm”- must be rigorously enforced and elevated. At the same time, the concept of “open source”, which is central to DPGs, was originally developed for code and does not fully capture the complexity of AI, which also includes data and model weights. Building on the work of the Community of Practice (CoP) on AI as Digital Public Goods (AIDPG), co-led by DPGA and UNICEF, this session aims to present new research findings on AIDPG, sharing a set of actionable recommendations for definition, standard, and governance of AIDPG. The research is commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in partnership with the United Nations University Institute in Macau (UNU Macau) and the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies (UN ODET), and in close collaboration with DPGA.

Later in the afternoon, the session titled “AI as a Digital Public Good: Insights from ADB’s Research” takes place in Conference Room 1 at 15:00 PM. This session is organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in collaboration with United Nations University Macau (UNU Macau), the UN ODET, and the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA).

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly recognised as a type of Digital Public Good (DPG), but it introduces distinct challenges that are not fully addressed by existing DPG standards. These include strengthening safeguarding principles such as “privacy by design” and “do no harm”, as well as accounting for AI's broader scope, which extends beyond code to include data and model weights.

Building on the work of the Community of Practice on AI as Digital Public Goods, the session presents recent research commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in partnership with UNU Macau and the UN ODET. It shares actionable recommendations to support the definition, standardisation and governance of AI as a Digital Public Good.

Speakers include Alessandra D’Angelo (ADB), Omar Mohsine (UN Open Source Coordinator), Ricardo Mirón (DPGA), Serge Stinckwich (UNU Macau), and Yoon Choi Barker (ADB).

UNU Leads Two Sessions at UN Open Source Week

Data Governance for the Public Good: Equity, Openness and Community Stewardship

AI as a Digital Public Good: Insights from ADB’s Research

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