UN OICT

In exactly two weeks, UN Open Source Week will bring together builders, maintainers, researchers and policymakers to explore how open source can help address global challenges!

We're excited to kick off the week with UN Tech Over in the Economic and Social Council Chamber—a day to demonstrate how open source can transform global goals into practical tools and lasting solutions.

Bringing together expertise from across sectors and disciplines, UN Tech Over will unfold through three complementary events:

🔹 Hack-A-Thon
An innovation sprint where participants will use open source technologies and AI to build solutions aligned with the SDGs, featuring two challenges led by AESIA - Agencia Española de Supervisión de Inteligencia Artificial, Ministerio para la Transformación Digital y de la Función Pública and the Spanish Open Source AI Community, UNICEF, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Executive Office of the Secretary-General.

🔹 Edit-A-Thon
In partnership with Wikimedia Foundation, participants will work alongside experts and mentors to improve and expand Wikipedia articles, strengthening access to accurate, high-quality knowledge.

🔹 Maintain-A-Thon
Together with the Sovereign Tech Agency, open source maintainers, stewards, and policymakers will explore best practices for sustaining critical digital infrastructure and strengthening long-term stewardship and institutional capacity.

We're excited to showcase how collaboration across communities and institutions can help build a more resilient and inclusive digital future!

Learn more at https://www.unopensource.org/agenda

Hosted by United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies and United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology.

Most of technology's most important contributions happen behind the scenes.

Across the United Nations, digital infrastructure helps connect teams, secure information, enable collaboration and support critical operations worldwide. These digital foundations enable people to work more effectively and deliver services at scale.

As continues to evolve, success depends not only on adopting new technologies but also on supporting and building resilient systems with people at the center.

Learn more at: https://unite.un.org/en

The UN Secretariat Digital Hub launch in Valencia on 11 May was highlighted in the latest Initiative updat

As the UN advances its reform agenda, strengthening digital service delivery is a key step toward a more efficient, collaborative and future-ready Organization.

UN80 Initiative: ‘Critical new phase’ for UN reform effort UN chief António Guterres has outlined further progress in the wide-ranging UN80 Initiative, a major reform and restructuring project aimed at making the global body more effective, agile and better equipped to respond to global challenges.

🌐 Less than ONE month until UN Open Source Week 2026!

Global leaders, innovators, developers, policymakers and open source communities are coming together to shape the future of digital cooperation through open source.

The week will feature exciting panels, hands-on workshops, hackathons and community-led events focused on real-world impact and accelerating progress toward the SDGs and the Global Digital Compact.

Co-organized by the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies and the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology.

The future is open. See you there.

Want insight into at the United Nations?

Make sure to watch CXO Talk ep 764 with our every own Chief Information Technology Officer Bernardo Mariano Junior ⬇️

Digital Transformation at the United Nations (CXOTalk #764) The UN recently celebrated its 75th a...

Minsik Choi, Intern at the UN Human Rights Office, is using technology to make human rights knowledge more accessible worldwide, automating digital library workflows & designing better user experiences for the UN Knowledge Gateway!

Read more: https://unite.un.org/en/WomenInTech-UN/minsik-choi

Congratulations to Team 619° for winning San Diego 2026 with FireLink, an SMS-powered platform helping communities share real-time wildfire updates and access emergency support, without using the internet or smartphones. 🔥

Built as a community-powered intelligence system, FireLink transforms simple text messages into actionable, real-time insights for both residents and emergency responders.

Huge congratulations to Team 619°, all participants and professionals who spent the weekend building for a better future!

Thanks to our partners: FAO, UC San Diego Library, UC San Diego, San Diego Supercomputer Center

Tomorrow, the launch of the UN Digital Hub in Valencia signals a turning point.

The Digital Hub in Valencia is the next stage in this long-term model, designed to strengthen delivery and innovation across the UN system.

This is what digital transformation looks like at scale. Stay tuned for more on 11 May!

On 11 May, the United Nations will launch its first Digital Hub in Valencia, Spain 🌐

The UN Digital Hub leverages established UN digital service delivery capabilities in Valencia and Brindisi to bring people, platforms and operations together under a single, enterprise model, designed to be more integrated and secure.

As part of the UN ICT Strategy, the Digital Hub is a flagship deliverable for that reflects a move away from fragmented systems and toward global, scalable digital operations that support mandates across the Organization.

This is where the future begins.

Hosted in partnership with the Spanish Government, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación, United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology, United Nations Global Service Centre and the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU).