LPI at the UN: Enabling FOSS Ecosystems Globally

The UN Tech Over Hackathon, the opening event of UN Open Source Week 2026, concluded on June 22 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. Linux Professional Institute (LPI) participated as one of the co-organizers and sponsors of the hackathon, continuing a collaboration with the UN that began in 2023 and was formalized with LPI’s endorsement of the UN Open Source Principles in 2025.

Four Days, Four Venues, One Goal

The hackathon brought together developers, technologists, students, and innovators to build practical open source solutions to real challenges identified by UN entities. Teams began moving from ideation to working prototypes on June 19, during an in-person launch held on-site at Amazon Web Services. A mentorship and workspace day at UNICEF House followed on June 20, then remote collaboration on June 21, and final pitches in the ECOSOC Chamber at UN Headquarters on June 22.

Two Challenges, One Purpose

Participants worked on two challenges, each anchored by institutions at the center of current policy conversations surrounding open source and AI.

The first challenge, Safety, Supervision, and Governance in the Agentic World, was developed by AESIA (the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence) and the Spanish Open Source AI Community, led by the Ministry for Digital and Civil Service Transformation of Spain. Teams explored how to build responsible AI agents with fairness, privacy, cybersecurity, and human supervision designed in from the start.

The second challenge, From Data to Action: Building Next Generation Evidence, led by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, invited participants to build decision-ready data products on the UN system’s emerging Data Commons: a knowledge graph platform bringing together the UN’s public development data. Teams created tools that turn diverse real-world datasets into actionable evidence for humanitarian response, public policy, and development planning in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Recruiting Universities from the LPI Network

Talent development is central to LPI’s mission, and the hackathon offered a direct way to act on it. LPI invited academic institutions from its partner network to take part, and two universities joined in person: Western Governors University (United States) and Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Mexico). Their participation connected students and faculty directly with UN entities, government agencies, and industry mentors, exactly the kind of bridge between academia and real-world impact that LPI’s Academic Partner program is designed to build.

LPI as Ecosystem Enabler

The hackathon reflected something essential about how meaningful open source work gets done: no single organization does it alone. The event succeeded because governments such as Spain, UN entities such as UNICEF and the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, private sector partners, universities, and the broader open source community each brought their strengths to a shared purpose.

This is where LPI positions itself: as a global, neutral, and mission-driven organization that helps connect these stakeholders. LPI understands the priorities of allies across the ecosystem and works to bring academia, students, industry professionals, and the open source community together around common goals: using Linux and open source technologies to address real societal challenges while supporting talent development, digital sovereignty, and sustainable technology ecosystems.

The final pitches on June 22 were opened by Thomas Jarzombek, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation; Amandeep Singh Gill, UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies; Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, Rector of the United Nations University; and Mandeep O’Brien, Global Director of Public Partnerships at UNICEF. The presence of leadership from government, the UN system, academia, and civil society on one stage captured what the week was about.

One Year from Now

UN Open Source Week 2026 continued through June 26 with dedicated days on open source and AI, digital public infrastructure, and Open Source Program Offices. For LPI, the hackathon reaffirmed a simple conviction: open source turns global goals into working tools, and the people who build those tools deserve support, recognition, and pathways to grow.

LPI looks forward to deepening its collaboration with the United Nations, governments, academia, industry, and FLOSS communities worldwide. As an orchestrator of the open source ecosystem, LPI connects key stakeholders across society by placing human talent at the center of digital transformation, technological sovereignty, neutrality, and sustainable innovation.

Government institutions, academic organizations, industry leaders, and FLOSS communities interested in developing open source talent globally are invited to join LPI’s partner network. To learn more and apply, please visit the Become a Partner page.

Behind the Scenes

This hackathon would not have been possible without the people who worked behind the scenes to make it a success. Special thanks to the United Nations team: Omar Mohsine, Mithusa Kajendran, Pinar Sila Varol, and Zeina Amr Hassan; I also want to thank my colleagues, Juan Ibarra Báez and Hernán Pachas Magallanes — for their leadership and support.
We also extend our appreciation to Arun Gupta and to all the volunteers whose dedication and energy helped bring this initiative to life.