UNDP and DFINITY partner on sovereign cloud and decentralized AI

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the DFINITY Foundation have launched a partnership to explore sovereign cloud infrastructure and decentralized artificial intelligence for public-sector and development initiatives. The collaboration aims to examine how emerging technologies can support digital transformation for governments, civil society organizations, and UNDP programs.

The initiative will operate through three primary programs. The Sustainable Development Goals Blockchain Accelerator will allow UNDP Country Offices to evaluate sovereign cloud and decentralized AI applications for local development projects. The Future of Work Academy will support civil society organizations in testing applications built on decentralized infrastructure. Additionally, the partnership will focus on public software development, testing customized applications using DFINITY’s cloud engines and Caffeine AI, which enables autonomous agents to write code.

A key objective of the project is to enable government self-custody in secure software deployment, reducing the necessity for local public service entities to share sensitive data with global technology corporations. The UN plans to select five countries to participate in the pilot, with each nation presenting a specific problem that could be addressed using Web3 technology.