How Tech for Social Good supported the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2022
Mala Kumar @malakumar85
Director of Tech for Social Good, GitHub Social Impact
Cynthia Lo @csmlo
Program Manager, Skills-Based Volunteering, GitHub Social ImpactJanuary 9, 2023 //
For the third year in a row, the GitHub Social Impact, Tech for Social Good team has mapped where we spent our time against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is a powerful framework created by the United Nations (UN), the broader international development community, governments, and funders to measure human progress. In 2022, we had a 95 percent increase in time spent on work related to the SDGs over 2021!
2022 SDG Highlights
As was the case in 2021, most of our time went to initiatives focused on SDGs 9 and 17. SDG 9 is “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation” and SDG 17 is “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.” The MERL Center, our work on the digital public goods (DPGs), Skills-Based Volunteering, and our research projects comprised our SDG 9 work. Primarily driving our SDG 17 was our support to the newly created WHO open source programme offices (OSPO) and the anticipated ITU OSPO.
We also spent time on work related to SDG 10, target 7, “Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.” In 2022, GitHub partnered with the organization, Mobile Pathways, which creates apps and SMS services to help immigrants navigate the US immigration system by connecting them with attorneys. We developed a series of data visualizations and an ArcGis map to analyze how and where migrants need employment and immigration support throughout the United States. The goal is to ensure migrants have a pathway to live and work.
To read more about where we spent our time in 2022, check out our 2022 recap post.
What’s Ahead?
A major new initiative we’re launching in 2023 is a program called “Activating Developers,” which aims to engage more software developers who use GitHub and do not work in the social sector, on work related to the SDGs. Much of that work will initially focus on the DPGs, and could thus map to any or all of the SDGs. Check back in the coming weeks for more information!
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