2024 State of the DPG Ecosystem Report is now live!
27/02/2025
In 2024, the landscape of digital public goods (DPGs) saw unprecedented thrust, shaping change across key sectors, from healthcare and education to climate action and sustainable agriculture. The release of the 2024 State of the DPG Ecosystem report by the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA) Secretariat captures the breadth of progress made by over 40 global members in advancing open and scalable digital solutions.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has reinforced its commitment to a DPG-first approach in the digitalization of agrifood systems. By championing DPGs, FAO walks the talk in the making foundational and inclusive digital technologies available for agrifood systems by fostering open, safe, and scalable digital solutions. It’s a call to action for stakeholders across the agrifood ecosystem to drive systemic transformation through digital public goods.
In addition to championing a DPG-first approach, FAO added several verified solutions to the DPG Registry, including AGROVOC Multilingual Thesaurus, Agrontology, FAO Agricultural Stress Index System, FAO Digital Services Portfolio, Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform and WaPOR and continue to provide ongoing support to FAO product owners seeking DPG certification.
FAO has actively championed DPGs by co-hosting Reboot the Earth 2024, an initiative under the Global Network of Digital Agriculture Innovation Hubs led by FAO’s Office of Innovation. This global series of social coding events convened young innovators in the United States, Morocco, India, Ethiopia, and online to develop technology-driven solutions for climate challenges. Winning teams received funding, mentorship, and opportunities to present their innovations at Open-Source Program Offices (OSPOs) for Good in New York and at the Science and Innovation Forum (SIF) 2024 in Rome.
In the report also related initiatives carried out by FAO are mentioned, like the presence at SIF 2024, of the session “Digital Agriculture Changemakers in Action" that brought together experts, policymakers, and pioneering farmers to showcase the real-world impact of digital tools in tackling global agricultural challenges. A central theme was the role of DPGs and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in promoting resilience and inclusivity in rural farming communities. A key highlight was the collaboration between Digital Green and Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture, which leverages Open Content Collections and Open AI systems to improve advisory services for farmers. This initiative has led to the development of an open knowledge-sharing architecture based on FarmStack and Farmer.Chat, enabling seamless access, contribution, and dissemination of agricultural knowledge through the integration of a chatbot.
FAO continues to drive its DPG agenda through policy discussions and knowledge-sharing platforms. In November 2024, the Organization hosted a webinar on “Digital Public Infrastructure for Agrifood Systems”, bringing together global experts, including the 50-in-5 initiative, to explore opportunities and challenges in digital agriculture. In 2025, FAO will continue to advance its DPG roadmap for example through initiatives like “Reboot the Earth”, and by providing guidance and tools to facilitate the discovery and reuse of DPGs for transforming agrifood systems.