FYI, I just came across the United Nations Open Source Principles, which was recently adopted by the UN Chief Executive Board’s Digital Technology Network (DTN): 

Read "The OSI First to Endorse United Nations Open Source Principles | Office of Information and Communications Technology" on

The OSI First to Endorse United Nations Open Source Principles | Office of Information and Communications Technology

The United Nations Open Source United community and the Open Source Initiative (OSI) today announced that the OSI has become the first organization to officially endorse the UN Open Source Principles. The UN Open Source Principles, recently adopted by the UN Chief Executive Board's Digital Technology Network (DTN), provide guidelines to drive collaboration and Open Source

It has been endorsed by the Open Source Initiative, which maintains the Open Source Software Definition. 

They are even planning a UN Open Source Week for 16–20 June 2025 (unfortunately located in the United States, so out of reach for most people). 

The eight principles are: 

1. Open by default: Making Open Source the standard approach for projects
2. Contribute back: Encouraging active participation in the Open Source ecosystem
3. Secure by design: Making security a priority in all software projects
4. Foster inclusive participation and community building: Enabling and facilitating diverse and inclusive contributions
5. Design for reusability: Designing projects to be interoperable across various platforms and ecosystems
6. Provide documentation: Providing thorough documentation for end-users, integrators and developers
7. RISE (recognize, incentivize, support and empower): Empowering individuals and communities to actively participate
8. Sustain and scale: Supporting the development of solutions that meet the evolving needs of the UN system and beyond.

I especially appreciate that making open source the default is the first principle, and they stress the importance of interoperability between systems. 

It'll probably take a long time to propagate, but I hope these principles will eventually have a positive effect on conservation technology. In my view open source technologies are especially important because of its colonial history and the need to make funding go far. 

What do you think?