United Nations launches Open Source United Portal

Portal organises UN open source assets in one place; new working tracks defined for AI, OSPOs, infrastructure, and contributor support

The United Nations has launched the Open Source United (OSU) portal as a central point of reference for open source activity across the UN system. OSOR spoke to Dr David Manset, Co- Chair of the Open Source United Community of Practice and Senior Advisor DPI & Open Source at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) who expressed that the aim is that the portal “becomes the 'totem place' where the UN community and partners can discover ongoing open source developments, working tracks, repositories, software catalogues, events, communities of practice, SDG-driven hackathons, capacity building activities, and broader ecosystem outputs across the UN system and beyond.”

OSU is a UN system community of practice operating within the broader context of the UN Chief Executive Board’s Digital Technology Network (DTN). Together with Manset, Omar Mohsine (UN Open Source Coordinator) and Mostafa Elkordy (UNICC) act as Co-Chairs. The portal is built and connected to the UN Open Source Principles, the UN Common Policy Framework on Open Source and the UN code repository.

Manset described the portal as “not simply intended to function as a traditional informational website” but as the “operational backbone” of UN open source activity. The Projects page currently features three projects: the eTIR National Application, an open source solution to connect national customs authorities, GENIE.AI, which promotes equitable access to advanced AI capabilities and FireForm, an open source system designed to reduce administrative workload for first responders by automating incident report documentation. Additional projects are expected to be added over time. Proposals can be made via opensource@un.org.

Manset further noted that the initiative represents a historical step in the evolution of open source collaboration across the UN system. By bringing together open source principles, policy guidance, repositories, software assets, communities of practice, country level initiatives, AI related work, and contributor pathways within a shared coordination framework, the portal aims to strengthen discoverability, collaboration, and long term sustainability across the wider ecosystem.

Open Source United represents an important milestone for the UN ecosystem, but its significance extends well beyond a single portal or community initiative. As artificial intelligence increasingly transforms societies and public services, open source is becoming a critical enabler for transparency, interoperability, inclusiveness, and trusted digital transformation. In the coming years, openness, scrutiny, and collaborative governance will play an increasingly important role in ensuring secure, trustworthy, and accountable digital systems.

Dr David Manset, Co- Chair of the Open Source United Community of Practice

Technology and maintenance

The portal is built on Drupal, selected for its multilingual publishing, accessibility, workflow orchestration, and the maturity of its security governance and community. The site is available in the six official UN languages. Manset confirmed that the portal itself is open source and aligned with the first UN Open Source Principle: open by default. The code will be made public during the upcoming UN Open Source Week.

Development and maintenance are handled collaboratively by contributors from participating UN entities and supporting partners, rather than by a single contractor or in-house team. “The development model reflects a distributed and community-oriented approach consistent with the broader objectives of Open Source United”, noted Manset.

Endorsements

At the time of publication, the UN Open Source Principles have received endorsements from more than 150 organisations across the public and private sectors, intergovernmental bodies, foundations, governments, and open source ecosystem actors. This is a significant increase, as the count was 60 by August 2025. Endorsers include, among others, the Open Source Initiative, the Linux Foundation, Red Hat, Eclipse Foundation, the Government of France and the Government of South Africa.

New working tracks

OSU has agreed on a roadmap toward a new set of working tracks expected to shape the development of the portal and ecosystem activity over the coming period:

• Responsible Open AI, covering guidance for transparent, accountable, and inclusive AI adoption, and support for open and interoperable AI ecosystems
• Resilient Digital Infrastructure, focused on open source-based strategies for locally adaptable and resilient digital public infrastructure
• Contributor Engagement, aimed at increasing visibility for contributors and supporting maintainers as project stewards
• OSPO-in-a-Box, providing reusable frameworks, templates, and tooling for organisations setting up Open Source Programme Offices
• Open Source Talent and Capacity Development, focused on training and skills development across the UN system and beyond

An international OSPO registry is also planned, intended to help countries and organisations identify and connect with existing OSPO efforts worldwide. Further tracks and developments are expected at UN Open Source Week 2026 at UN Headquarters in New York, 22 to 26 June, according to Manset. The event, previously known as OSPOs for Good, has grown from around 70 participants at its first edition to more than 1,000 in 2025.