Events

UN Open Source Week 2025: 16–20 June, UN Headquarters, New York
UN Open Source Week 2025 brought together a diverse global community to explore the transformative potential of open source in shaping inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystems. Organised by the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies and the UN Office of ICT, the week offered panels, hackathons, and collaborative sessions to advance digital cooperation and innovation grounded in openness and public value. For more information on the conference, please visit: https://www.un.org/digital-emerging-technologies/content/open-source-week-2025

Event Highlight by Day

16–17 June: UN Tech Over Hackathon
The week opened with a two-day collaborative sprint where technologists and climate advocates developed open source tools for high-impact global challenges, including child-centric climate emergency response. Participants worked in teams on data-driven solutions aligned with the SDGs and the Global Digital Compact.

16 June: Edit-A-Thon & Maintain-A-Thon
Participants contributed to Wikipedia entries on UN history and engaged in sustaining open source infrastructure through issue triage, documentation, and mentorship from experienced maintainers.

18 June: OSPOs for Good
This full-day conference explored the growing role of Open Source Programme Offices (OSPOs) in connecting open source ecosystems across governments, academia, and civil society. Panels and workshops highlighted their impact on AI policy, digital governance, and collaborative innovation.

19 June: Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Day
UN agencies, member states, and partners gathered to accelerate progress on DPI as a foundation for achieving the SDGs. Sessions focused on open source tools, shared standards, and collaborative governance models to build more inclusive and interoperable digital systems.

20 June: Community-Led Side Events
The week concluded with off-site sessions hosted by partners, including RISE and PwC, showcasing grassroots approaches to digital inclusion, open innovation, and sustainable technology ecosystems.

The Open Source Week 2025 Conference Report is now available for download.

The OSPOs for Good Symposium returned for its second edition on July 9-10, 2024, with a larger, more diverse gathering of global open-source advocates. This year’s conference expanded its reach and ambition, positioning Open Source Programme Offices (OSPOs) as powerful networks for positive global impact. Read more

Building on the success of its inaugural event, the 2024 symposium showcased high-level discussions, spotlighting open-source policies and projects worldwide. Sessions underscored OSPOs as enablers of international collaboration, with new thematic tracks exploring how open source networks can drive real world solutions for global challenges.

OSPOs for Good 2023: Building & Designing Cooperative Digital Infrastructure
The first edition of OSPOs for Good was held on 21 June 2023 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, with both in-person and remote participation. The symposium brought together government, academic, and industry leaders to explore how Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) can collaborate to create positive social, environmental, and humanitarian impact. Read more

Participants engaged in keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops, and networking sessions, covering topics such as cross-border open source collaboration, OSPO success stories, and the role of open source in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The organizers sincerely thank all speakers and attendees for their contributions and look forward to continuing this initiative in future editions.