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Open Cities Lab joins the Digital Public Goods Alliance

The Digital Public Goods Alliance is pleased to welcome Open Cities Lab (OCL) as its newest member, with the announcement taking place yesterday during the African Urban Forum, marking an important step forward in advancing locally led, inclusive, and sustainable digital public infrastructure. This milestone reflects a shared commitment to strengthening digital public goods as foundational tools for improving public service delivery, accountability, and civic participation.Open Cities Lab’s membership in the Alliance highlights its role as an implementation focused organisation working across Africa to deploy open, interoperable, and adaptable digital systems. By collaborating directly with governments, practitioners, and civic actors, OCL brings practical experience in ensuring that digital transformation efforts are grounded in real institutional contexts and designed for long term public value.As part of its engagement with the Alliance, Open Cities Lab contributes to the DPGA roadmap through three key areas of work spanning policy and advocacy, capacity building, and technical implementation. These efforts include strengthening African led adoption of digital public infrastructure, supporting local governments to sustainably adopt digital public goods, and developing open source civic infrastructure that enhances transparency and accountability.Together, these activities reflect Open Cities Lab’s broader commitment to advancing DPI that is practical and responsive to local needs. By focusing on implementation and real world application, the organisation contributes to building systems that governments can govern, sustain, and evolve over time.As Joanne Parker, CEO of Open Cities Lab, stated:“Joining the Digital Public Goods Alliance is an important milestone for Open Cities Lab. We believe digital public infrastructure should be open, practical, and grounded in real implementation contexts. Through this membership, we look forward to contributing African implementation experience to the global digital public goods ecosystem and continuing to support governments to build systems they can govern, sustain, and evolve over time”.Highlighting the importance of this collaboration, Liv Marte Nordhaug, CEO of the DPGA Secretariat, noted:“Open Cities Lab brings valuable, implementation focused contributions to the Digital Public Goods Alliance. Their work advancing African led DPI adoption, strengthening local government capacity, and building open civic infrastructure reflects the kind of practical, locally grounded approach needed to make digital public goods sustainable”.To learn more about Open Cities Lab joining the DPGA, visit their announcement.To learn more about the activities they will be undertaking as part of their DPGA membership, visit the Roadmap.

UNESCO joins the Digital Public Goods Alliance

The Digital Public Goods Alliance is pleased to welcome UNESCO as part of its growing global community, marking a step forward in advancing open, inclusive, and resilient knowledge ecosystems worldwide. This milestone reflects a shared commitment to strengthening digital public goods as essential building blocks for equitable access to information and sustainable development.UNESCO’s inclusion in the Digital Public Goods Alliance roadmap brings five of its Open Solutions into focus. These include Open Educational Resources (OER), Open Access, Open Data, and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), all of which play a key role in supporting knowledge ecosystems and enhancing information resilience.UNESCO’s roadmap activities emphasise expanding access to knowledge as a public good, supporting equitable participation, and enabling the reuse and adaptation of educational, scientific, and public-interest resources across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts.As Mariya Gabriel, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO, stated:“The inclusion of UNESCO’s Open Solutions— Open Educational Resources, Open Access, Open Data and Free and Open Source Software— in the Digital Public Goods Alliance roadmap, underscores our commitment to knowledge as a public good and to multilateral cooperation. Through these open systems, UNESCO supports Member States in expanding access to information and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals”.Highlighting the significance of this collaboration, Liv Marte Nordhaug, CEO of the DPGA Secretariat, noted:“Through its Open Solutions, UNESCO is advancing open and inclusive knowledge ecosystems while strengthening the development and adoption of digital public goods that expand access to shared, interoperable resources and enable equitable participation in the digital age”.Through its engagement in the Alliance, UNESCO builds on its global networks and normative expertise to help implement key international frameworks, reinforcing that knowledge and the systems that support it must remain accessible, rights-based, and governed in the public interest.To learn more about UNESCO joining the DPGA, visit their press release.To learn more about the activities they will be undertaking as part of their DPGA membership, visit the Roadmap.

Modernising Child Protection Case Management in Mexico

In Mexico, Child Protection Authorities (CPAs) are responsible for protecting children who experience violence, abuse, or neglect. In 2024, UNICEF and the Federal Child Protection Authority (FCPA) estimated that more than two million children require immediate protection. Meeting need is particularly challenging given significant budget gaps and limited case traceability. Case management practices have historically relied on fragmented, inconsistent paper-based approaches, further constraining coordination. While CPAs manage approximately 260,000 cases each year, actual demand exceeds two million children—underscoring the need for robust, scalable digital systems to improve both coverage and quality of care.To address these challenges, the FCPA and UNICEF Mexico developed the National Case Management Model (MOGEC) to standardise and strengthen child protection procedures nationwide. MOGEC establishes minimum standards, operational steps, and technical criteria to support the implementation of legally mandated processes.To operationalise MOGEC, the Government of Mexico leveraged the flexibility and adaptability of Primero, which was recognised as a digital public good in 2020. Adapting Primero, the platform was configured using the Child Protection Information Management System (CPIMS+) to reflect national procedures, and workflows, enabling standardised case registration, real-time monitoring, and improved inter-institutional coordination. Rollout began at the federal level and across eight states, reaching more than 300 trained users and benefiting an estimated 150,000 children directly and indirectly.With technical support from UNICEF, FCPA customised Primero to guide multidisciplinary teams—including psychologists, lawyers, and social workers—on MOGEC processes. Primero became more than a case registry: it supported the adoption of improved workflows, reduced administrative burden, and strengthened decision-making. Users report improved interdisciplinary collaboration through shared case information and analysis. Offline functionality allows teams to manage cases in areas without internet, while automated reporting replaces manual reporting, saving time and improving data quality. Risk-based prioritisation tools further support teams in identifying urgent cases and tracking follow-up actions more effectively.Using a DPG gave government officials in Mexico greater confidence to adopt the platform. DPG recognition signalled alignment with open-source standards and data protection best practices, while supporting interoperability and avoiding vendor lock-in and high licensing costs. It also reinforced national ownership.In 2026, Mexico will host the FIFA World Cup. Authorities will use Primero to identify and refer to child protection risks during the event. The government is also exploring interoperability between Primero and other administrative systems, including registries of children in residential care, victims’ databases, and systems used by health, education, and justice institutions. Together, these efforts aim to create an integrated digital ecosystem that supports more effective protection for children in Mexico.This content is part of the 2025 State of the Digital Public Goods Ecosystem Report, published by the Digital Public Goods Alliance in early February 2025. Learn more about the Alliance’s latest community highlights and explore the full report here.