In the r/opensource subreddit, a really good question was asked by u/Fandekasp
Is there an awesome list of open source projects dedicated to tackling global challenges?
I promised to set one up here at Pangloss Labs and as we’re not far from the United Nations in Geneva I’ve used the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as categories. Here it is, a list of open source hardware and software projects from around the globe that are helping to make the world a better place.
If you know of one that we missed please just tell us and we’ll happily add it. Thanks!
SDG1 No Poverty
- OpenCBS an innovative platform offering an Open Source Core Banking System as well as other value-added solutions for the microfinance and financial services industry
- MIfos We provide the end to end set of technologies whether you’re a user looking for software out of the box, a partner looking to resell Mifos X, or a developer looking to build your own solution for mobile banking or digital financial services.
- Mojaloop Mojaloop is open-source software for financial services companies, government regulators, and others taking on the challenges of interoperability and financial inclusion.
SDG2 Zero Hunger
SDG3 Good Health & Well-Being
- OpenMRS The world's leading open source enterprise electronic medical record system platform.
- OpenBCI Open Source Brain Computer Interfaces
- Safecast Safecast is a global volunter-centered citizen science project working to empower people with data about their environments.
- MOTECH Mobile Technology for Community Health
- OpenLMIS A web based open source software purpose built for national governments in developing countries to use to manage their supplies of medical/heatlh commodities (medicines, bednets, etc.). The goal is to reduce stock outs of essential health products.
- Careables Platform that enables citizens to co-design and deliver people-centered health products through means of digital fabrication.
- GNU Health A Free/Libre project for health practitioners, health institutions and governments. It provides the functionality of Electronic Medical Record (EMR), Hospital Management (HMIS) and Health Information System (HIS).
- LogAir An open source mobile pollution device that maps PM2.5 concentration in the air
SDG4 Quality Education
- Moodle Open-source learning platform
- Kolibri makes high quality education technology available in low-resource communities such as rural schools, refugee camps, orphanages, non-formal school systems, and prison systems.
- OER Commons OER Commons is a public digital library of open educational resources. Explore, create, and collaborate with educators around the world to improve curriculum.
- Wikipedia the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
- Kiwix lets you access free knowledge – even offline. Store Wikipedia or any website on your mobile phone or computer, easily
SDG5 Gender Equality
- Open Gender Project Creating and promoting a practical and inclusive way to handle gender in software.
- Wikigender Your online platform to share research, data and solutions to advance gender equality.
SDG6 Clean Water & Sanitation
- OHorizons Open Source Water Purification Systems
SDG7 Affordable & Clean Energy
- ONSSET Open Source Spatial Electrification Tool
- LF Energy Open Source for Energy Transition
- Hydrogen Bicycle Kit We’re developing an “open source” conversion kit to transform a “classic” bike into a hydrogen electric bike
- OSeMOSYS – Home Open Source Energy Modelling System
- Open Energy Models Open Source Energy Modelling Systems
- Open Smart Grid Platform Open, generic, scalable and independent ‘Internet of Things’ platform for large infrastructures
- OpenEnergyMonitor Open source monitoring for understanding energy. Exploring the context of renewable energy and zero carbon
- OpenEMS Open Source Energy Management System
SDG9 Innovation, Industry & Infrastructure
- Field Ready Humanitarian Aid Supplied made in the Field
- Safecast Safecast is a global volunter-centered citizen science project working to empower people with data about their environments.
- OpenBuilds Build an open source machine for building things
- openTCS The open transportation control system
- Oasis Loss Modelling Framework An open source catastrophe modelling platform, free to use by anyone.
- Hydrogen Bicycle Kit We’re developing an “open source” conversion kit to transform a “classic” bike into a hydrogen electric bike
- Open Data Kit Free and open-source software for collecting, managing, and using data in resource-constrained environments.
- OpenHab Software for smart home management
- Open Robotics ROS for building robots, Gazebo for simulating them
- Open Source Ecology Open Source Blueprints for Civilization. Build Yourself.
- WikiHouse is a digitally-manufactured building system. It aims to make it simple for anyone to design, manufacture and assemble beautiful, high-performance homes that are customised to their needs.
SDG10 Reduced Inequalities
- Mighty House Mighty House is an open source tool kit that enables everyday people to create transitional shelter for those experiencing homelessness.
- Open Data Kit Free and open-source software for collecting, managing, and using data in resource-constrained environments.
- MOTECH Mobile Technology for Community Health
- Electric wheelchair conversion kit An open kit to bring electric drive to any existing wheelchair for cheap (and -hopefully- safe)
- Enabling The Future A Global Network Of Passionate Volunteers Using 3D Printing To Give The World A "Helping Hand."
SDG11 Sustainable Cities & Communities
- CoopCycle A federation of bicycle delivery cooperatives, and the open source logisitics/commerce software to power them.
- OpenFarm Grow Your Food. Farm and garden through knowledge sharing
- CiviCRM Open source constituent relationship management for non-profits, NGOs and advocacy organizations.
- Open Source Ecology Open Source Blueprints for Civilization. Build Yourself.
- LogAir An open source mobile pollution device that maps PM2.5 concentration in the air
- WikiHouse is a digitally-manufactured building system. It aims to make it simple for anyone to design, manufacture and assemble beautiful, high-performance homes that are customised to their needs.
- FarmBot Open-Source CNC Farming
- OpenDroneMap Drone Mapping Software. Generate maps, point clouds, 3D models and DEMs from drone, balloon or kite images.
- CityOS Open source city software available to all
- OpenHab Software for smart home management
- QGIS A Free and Open Source Geographic Information System
- OSGeoLive a self-contained bootable DVD, USB thumb drive or Virtual Machine based on Lubuntu, that allows you to try a wide variety of open source geospatial software without installing anything.
SDG12 Responsible Consumption & Production
- Open Source Circular Economy Days A global ecosystem of resilient local circular economies bound by the spirit of openness, collaboration, diversity and motivation for a thriving planet and fairer society.
- Field Ready Humanitarian Aid Supplied made in the Field
- RepRap – RepRap RepRap is humanity's first general-purpose self-replicating manufacturing machine.
SDG13 Climate Action
- OS-°C an Open Source collaboration community to build a software platform that will dramatically boost global capital flows into climate change mitigation and resilience.
- xanthos Xanthos is an open-source hydrologic model, written in Python, designed to quantify and analyze global water availability.
- Public Lab Public Lab is a community where you can learn how to investigate environmental concerns.
- Apache Open Climate Workbench An effort to develop software that performs climate model evaluation using model outputs from a variety of different sources
- ffem Foundation for Environmental Monitoring
SDG14 Life Below Water
- FOCUS The FOCUS (Fisheries Open Source Community Software) community has been established with the purpose to create and maintain free software dedicated to the management and preservation of the fishery resource.
- Open-Source Ocean Acoustics open source tools and resources in ocean acoustics
- FAO Fisheries OPEN ARTFISH stands for Open Approaches, Rules and Techniques for Fisheries statistical monitoring.
- FishBase A Global Information System on Fishes
- WikiWatershed A web toolkit designed to help citizens, conservation practitioners, municipal decision-makers, researchers, educators, and students advance knowledge and stewardship of fresh water.
SDG15 Life On Land
- Open Source Seeds Protecting seed as commons – the alternative to monopolies and corporate power!
- OpenDroneMap Drone Mapping Software. Generate maps, point clouds, 3D models and DEMs from drone, balloon or kite images.
- Open Foris Free open-source solutions for environmental monitoring
SDG16 Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions
- ContraxSuite Open Source AI powered Legal Software
- MySociety Tools for democracy. Our code is open source
- Oasis Loss Modelling Framework An open source catastrophe modelling platform, free to use by anyone.
- bellingcat Tools for open source investigations
SDG17 Partnerships For The Goals
- Toolkit: Activating the 2030 Agenda An open source kit to build your own multi-stakeholder SDG lab
I’m sure I missed a whole bunch. If you know of one that we missed please just tell us and we’ll happily add it. Thanks!
