What’s the Next Big Digital Public Good?

Digital Public Goods & Innovation
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Hey everyone! :waving_hand:

Digital Public Goods are changing the way we solve real-world problems from education to disaster response.

I’m curious if you had the chance to build one DPG that could make a real impact in your community or university, what would it be?

Examples:

  • A flood early warning system
  • Open learning resources for students
  • Mapping local services like hospitals & schools
  • Civic engagement tools

I’d love to hear your ideas! Let’s brainstorm what students across universities can build together as Digital Public Goods.

1 Like
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As one of the DPG Lead at IPAM, I would propose building an Open Flood Early Warning and Community Risk Mapping System as our flagship Digital Public Good.

Flooding is a recurring and devastating challenge in Freetown and many parts of Sierra Leone. Every rainy season, families are displaced, properties are damaged, and lives are put at risk. Yet, access to timely, accurate, and open information remains limited.

This is where students can step in.

Our proposed DPG would:

Map flood-prone communities using open data

Provide early warning alerts via SMS and web platforms

Enable community members to report real-time flood situations

Offer verified emergency contacts and safe-zone information

Built as an open-source solution, this system would not belong to one university it would be reusable, adaptable, and scalable across institutions and communities nationwide.

This initiative aligns with SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), while demonstrating how university students can move beyond theory to build technology that directly protects lives.

Digital Public Goods should not only be innovative they should be impactful, inclusive, and sustainable.

By starting with a Flood Early Warning and Risk Mapping System, we position students not just as learners, but as problem-solvers contributing to national resilience.

Let’s build technology that truly serves the public.

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As of me I go with open learning to see how best we could bring emerging technologies like AI into the classroom. So I was thinking of running AI models that runs locally on every campus without needing internet they will be on the campus servers and networks where in students could access them easily and they do not need to pay for subscription and they can use it unlimitedly

This is what I was working on I’ve got the prototype working it only left if I could see how best people could be able to embrace it this will opportunity to new this too and also help boost environment that lack connectivity

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That’s smart. Look into some open source tools that would help in building something like this

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ok i love this idea.
I would advice you continue working on it and try to apply for the DPG Accelerator Lab Cohort 2.
Just keep your ears out for the cohort 2 announcement.

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Civic Engagement Tools