At the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN), we are excited and grateful to announce an important initiative for the next year, with the generous support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF).
With over two decades of transforming digital infrastructure to drive impact worldwide, we have identified two emerging problems over the last few years:
The first problem we identified was the need for applied AI Literacy in high-impact social sectors. While there has been progress and proliferation of basic AI literacy resources, for some sectors, such as social protection, peacebuilding or land rights advocacy, the learning tools fall short in truly understanding the risks or seizing the opportunities AI presents, leaving key voices unequipped to take part in debates or limited in benefiting from the technological leaps in their sectors.
To test a different approach for such cases, the Open Knowledge Foundation will launch four AI literacy pilots over the next year, embedding AI Catalysts in four organisations. They will identify real AI needs and opportunities, co-design practical use cases, and develop hands-on staff training in their local languages. They will act as a bridge between AI experts and on-the-ground realities.
The second problem we identified was the disconnect between the past three-decade-long effort to promote access to information, transparency and accountability through open data and the efforts towards trustworthy AI. We aim to bridge silos and upgrade the architecture of public interest and open data infrastructure to the AI era. In collaboration with the CKAN and broader open data ecosystem, we will work to make AI use more transparent and trustworthy. Part of the work will be the collaborative development of a Model Context Protocol (MCP) for CKAN, enabling AI-generated answers in open data portals to be fully traceable back to their original datasets – setting a new benchmark for transparency and trust in AI systems, with an exponential effect in the most used open data platform around the World.
We are excited to continue working in 2026 to strengthen the digital infrastructure and capacities that give communities power over the systems that affect their lives.
Learn more here about PJMF’s recent announcement of $75.8 million in philanthropic investment in public-purpose AI.
If you would like to find out more about our work over the next few moths, or if you would like to join forces, please email us at info@okfn.org.
