UN Open Source Week 2025: What to Expect at the Digital Frontier
As the digital world grows more interconnected (and contested) open source is fast becoming more than just a method. It’s a movement. From June 16 to 20, 2025, the United Nations will host the third edition of Open Source Week at its New York headquarters, uniting technologists, policymakers, civil society, and global institutions under one roof.
This year’s event builds on two years of momentum to offer deeper engagement, more co-creation, and a broader global scope. With daily themes ranging from Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to AI ethics and resilient open ecosystems, the week promises not just conversation—but action.
Let’s raise anchor and explore what lies ahead.
What It Means: A Global Convergence of Ideas and Code
UN Open Source Week 2025 offers a five-day hybrid of panels, workshops, hackathons, and side events, bringing together diverse sectors with a common goal: to shape digital public goods for inclusive, sustainable development.
The gathering responds directly to the Global Digital Compact and calls for more transparent, sovereign, and rights-based digital systems. From how we build software to how we govern data, the event unpacks the growing role of open source in today’s infrastructure stack.
Why It Matters: The Week at a Glance
June 16–17: Hackathons with Purpose
The week kicks off with UN Tech Over, a series of collaborative sprints designed to turn open collaboration into impact.
Ahead of the Storm Hackathon
Using open geospatial data to support child-centered climate response, co-hosted with UNICEF.Maintain-a-thon
A hands-on event exploring the unsung labor of open source maintenance—documentation, patching, burnout, and governance.Edit-a-thon
A digital storytelling sprint to update Wikipedia entries for major UN milestones, education, and institutional memory.
📍 Location: ECOSOC Chamber & Conference Room 2, UN HQ
June 17 (PM): Side Event at LinkedIn NYC – AI and the Future of Work
At the Empire State Building, a multidisciplinary panel hosted by ODET and LinkedIn takes on the workplace impact of artificial intelligence. From skills gaps to inclusive AI standards, the event explores:
Upskilling in an AI Era: With voices from the European Open Source Academy and OpenForum Europe.
Defining Open AI for the Public Good: Aligning with Digital Public Goods standards.
AI & Labor Transformation: Featuring leaders from SHRM, LinkedIn, and regional innovation institutes.
📍 Location: LinkedIn HQ, NYC | 3:00–6:00 PM
June 18: OSPOs for Good – Building Capacity Across Institutions
Wednesday’s programming dives into how Open Source Programme Offices (OSPOs) are transforming institutions from the inside out.
Case Studies from AWS, CMU, GitHub, and DINUM
AI & Open Source Ethics with Meta, UNESCO, and GitLab
Interoperability Through Open Data: A Mozilla–Wikimedia–Japan Digital Agency conversation
Open Source & DPI: Featuring Mercedes-Benz, Linux Foundation Europe, and CapGemini
📍 Location: Conference Room 2, UN HQ
📺 Livestream Part 1 | Part 2
June 19: DPI Day – Aligning Global Infrastructure
The main event for the week, DPI Day brings together UN agencies, ministers, and technologists to map a blueprint for scalable, equitable, and secure DPI systems.
Cross-border DPI Implementation: Nigeria, ITU, and the World Bank
Breakouts on DPI Safeguards, AI, Data Governance, and Finance
Africa's DPI Future: Carnegie Mellon Africa, GIZ, and the Upanzi Network
Closing with Governance Insights from Bernardo Mariano Jr. and Amandeep Gill
📍 Location: Conference Room 2, UN HQ
📺 Livestream Part 1 | Part 2
June 20: PwC Community Day – Five Tracks, One Movement
Hosted at PwC’s Madison Avenue office, the week wraps with a curated multitrack conference drawn from an open call for proposals. Each track brings together practitioners, maintainers, advocates, and institutions across the global digital ecosystem.
Track 1: Digital Sovereignty & Resiliency
Modular sovereign stacks from DINUM, UNICC, and Element
Global efforts to secure the software supply chain (Intel, OpenSSF, OWASP)
Post–Maintain-a-thon reflections on sustainability and burnout
Homegrown innovation from STEM Garage Africa and sovereign cloud platforms in Europe
Track 2: Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
FIWARE-powered smart city deployments and open mobility systems
Scaling Digital Public Goods (DPGs) into national infrastructure
Africa-led DPI strategies and the politics of local adaptation
Governance & Safeguards: How countries like India, Brazil, Estonia, and Ukraine are balancing openness with national protection — including a case presentation by our Editor-in-Chief on biometric data laws and DPI risk modeling
Track 3: Artificial Intelligence
Ethical data governance (Open Trusted Data)
AI for accessibility, crisis support, and climate resilience
Public sector workshops on responsible OSS AI deployment
Emerging frameworks for AI safety, trust, and transparency
Track 4: Capacity Building
Universities as launchpads for open source literacy and impact
The Open Source Enablement Compass and public OSPOs
National responsibility for critical open tools (e.g., Log4Shell lessons)
Measuring open source's contribution to the SDGs
Track 5: Global Priorities & SDGs
“Open Source United”: A community of UN system OSPOs
Youth-led SDG innovation in education, economic inclusion, and climate action
How open data becomes open infrastructure in cities and peacekeeping
Open hardware and medical tech for equitable healthcare access
📍 Location: PwC, 300 Madison Ave, NYC
Clarifying Wrap-Up: Why This Week Matters
UN Open Source Week is more than a UN event; it’s a litmus test for how seriously the world is taking digital cooperation. As digital infrastructure becomes geopolitical, and as communities increasingly depend on open technologies for everything from health to finance, events like these are shaping how and who gets to build the future.
TWC Insight: Why We’re Covering This
At The Wireless Cable, we follow this event because it serves as a mirror to the digital world’s evolving power dynamics. Whether it’s OSPOs inside national governments, maintainers leading from the shadows, or students rewriting SDG narratives through code, UN Open Source Week offers a glimpse of global governance in motion.
As DPI becomes a cornerstone of national development—and global diplomacy—it’s essential to track where the conversation is headed.
Takeaway: What You Can Do
Join in-person or watch the livestreams on UN Web TV
Participate in community days (space is limited, RSVP early)
Explore our DPI Safeguards explainer to understand the policy stakes
Come back for our post-event recap on June 25
👉 Follow the event via #UNOpenSource and @TWC_blog for live coverage throughout the week.
Editor’s Note
Our Editor-in-Chief, Jorge Tuddón, will be speaking on Friday, June 20, during the “DPI Governance – Law, Ethics, and Safeguards” session. He will present a case study on Mexico’s biometric SIM registry (PANAUT) as part of the broader discussion on trust, transparency, and risk in digital public infrastructure.
