UNDP and DFINITY Foundation Collaborate on Exploring Sovereign Cloud Infrastructure and Decentralized AI Deployment for Public Good

New York, Istanbul, Zurich, 25 August — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the DFINITY Foundation today announced a new partnership to explore the deployment of sovereign cloud infrastructure and decentralized artificial intelligence to support public-purpose digital transformation across governments, civil society organizations, and UNDP initiatives.

Initial activities will span three complementary workstreams in partnership with UNDP Alternative Finance Lab (AltFinLab), a global initiative connecting finance, innovation, and emerging technologies to explore, test, and scale new approaches for sustainable development. They include supporting UNDP Country Offices through the SDG Blockchain Accelerator to pilot sovereign cloud, AI-enabled software development and decentralized AI applications that address specific development and programme challenges; supporting civil society organizations through UNDP’s Future of Work Academy to build their capacity and test their own applications; and working through the Government Blockchain Academy with governments and public institutions to co-design decentralized AI and cloud pilot frameworks tailored to national and local development priorities.

“At UNDP, our focus is on helping countries understand, test, and responsibly adopt emerging technologies in ways that serve people, strengthen public systems, and advance sustainable development,” said Robert Opp, UNDP Chief Digital Officer. Robert Pasicko, who leads UNDP Alternative Finance Lab, added: “Our collaboration with DFINITY gives us an opportunity to explore how decentralized AI and cloud infrastructure can be applied to real development challenges, with appropriate safeguards, governance, and public-purpose outcomes at the center.” 

“AI is changing not only how software is built, but how institutions operate, protect data, and deliver services,” said Dominic Williams, Founder and Chief Scientist of the DFINITY Foundation. “Together with UNDP, we have an opportunity to help governments, public institutions, and civil society organizations explore sovereign cloud infrastructure that is secure, resilient, and designed to keep control in the hands of the institutions and communities it serves. By reducing the installation and maintenance of complex software to something as simple as installing a phone app, it also lets institutions in lower-capacity settings stand up their own sovereign digital services without large technical teams, helping countries leapfrog traditional infrastructure constraints.”

The collaboration will focus on practical, responsible adoption of emerging technologies in development settings, including the use of DFINITY’s Cloud Engines and Caffeine AI platform to help different stakeholders and institutions test, build, and maintain applications within secure, interoperable, and locally governed digital environments.

This would support UNDP’s broader work with governments and partners to help countries navigate digital transformation while strengthening public systems, improving trust, and ensuring that technology adoption remains people-centered. UNDP’s recent work in emerging technologies emphasizes responsible adoption, privacy, safeguards, interoperability, and public-purpose value across areas including payments, identity, climate finance, social protection, and transparent production systems.  

The parties expect the work to generate practical lessons on how sovereign cloud infrastructure and decentralized AI can be responsibly deployed in development contexts, including how public institutions and civil society organizations can build digital tools, protect sensitive data, improve resilience, and strengthen local capacity.