Last updated: October 21, 2022

For Volunteers

We will continually update the list of volunteer opportunities throughout October. Additional submissions will be posted at the bottom.

The GitHub Social Impact, Tech for Social Good and the DigitalOcean Social Impact teams are working together to amplify Hacktoberfest 2022 volunteer opportunities related to digital public goods!

Digital public goods (DPGs) are open source tools that support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Below is a list of volunteer opportunities that DPG maintainers have submitted. Each maintainer has also provided an overview on what volunteering will do for the project and how it will make a positive societal impact. We sincerely thank these maintainers for their hard work to prepare for Hacktoberfest.

Glific

From the maintainer, Donald Lobo: “Glific is a two way conversation platform for NGOs to interact with their end users. Glific allows NGOs and their users to reach out to each other at convenient times. Users can ask for help and assistance from NGOs while NGOs can send information, teaching materials and more in an attractive format to their users. This allows interactivity even at the last mile, a place which was left neglected. Your work will directly impact 60+ NGOs (barreling towards 100+) who are using the platform today.

Glific is a certified DPG.

Click here to see Glific’s Hacktoberfest issues

if-me.org

From the maintainer, Julia Nguyen: “if-me.org is a free, open source mental health communication platform to share experiences with loved ones. Our app is translated into thirteen languages and counting. Our blog amplifies mental health community organizers. We also curate a resources page with mental health resources from around the world. We care about marginalized communities that have little or no access to mental health education, resources, and services - including refugee and immigrant communities and communities of colour.

if-me.org is a certified DPG.

Click here to see if-me.org’s Hacktoberfest issues

DHIS2

From the maintainer, Austin McGee: “DHIS2 is the largest health information system in the world. It is a free and open source global public good, developed at the University of Oslo (UiO) with ample support from the likes of WHO, CDC, Gates Foundation, Global Vaccine Alliance, norad.no, UNICEF, and others. DHIS2 is used at the national level in more than 70 mostly low- and middle-income countries. It is a general-purpose data collection and analytics platform used to manage routine health service delivery as well as interventions targeting COVID-19, Malaria, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, maternal and child health, and more. Working on projects at DHIS2 offers interesting technical challenges with meaningful impact. For me, this is a priceless combination. Every line of code we write or new product feature we build will be used by hundreds or thousands of healthcare professionals to administer life-saving and life-changing health services to millions of people all over the world.

DHIS2 is a certified DPG.

Click here to see DHIS2’s Hacktoberfest issues

Govdirectory

From the maintainer, Jan Ainali: “Govdirectory is a crowdsourced and fact-checked directory of official governmental online accounts and services. Our vision is a world where people are empowered to engage with their government to ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels. Our mission is to enable a community powered directory where the online presence of every public organization is easily findable, queryable and trustworthy.

Govdirectory is a certified DPG.

Click here to see Govdirectory’s Hacktoberfest issues

Social Income

From the maintainer, Sandino Scheidegger: “Social Income is a radically simple solution in the fight against poverty. The global initiative turns 1% of everyones salary into an unconditional basic income for people living in poverty – sent directly to their mobile phones.

Social Income is considering becoming a DPG.

Click here to see Social Income’s Hacktoberfest issues

Uwazi

From the maintainer, Yolanda Booyzen: “Uwazi is a flexible open-source database application to capture and organise collections of information with a particular focus on document management. HURIDOCS, an NGO that helps human rights groups gather, organise and use information to create positive change in the world, develops Uwazi and is supporting dozens of human rights organisations globally to use the tool. Volunteers will be collaborating on a project that is dedicated to helping human rights defenders leverage information to advocate for justice and accountability.

Uwazi is a certified DPG.

Click here to see Uwazi’s Hacktoberfest issues

Sunbird

From the maintainer, Surendrasingh Sucharia: Sunbird is building blocks for learning, healthcare and human development. Configurable, Modular, Extendable, and Works at Scale.

Sunbird is a certified DPG.

Link coming soon

Uli: Mitigating Online Gender Based Violence

From the maintainer, Denny George: “Navigating the online world has increasingly become reflective of the offline world: targeted gender-based violence against all gender and sexual minorities is now commonplace. Uli (meaning chisel in Tamil) is our attempt to hand the chisel and power over to users most affected by online gender-based violence. It exists as a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that helps makes your online experience on Twitter safe from Gender Based Violence. This plugin is a reminder of our ability to reclaim spaces and take control of our online experience.

Uli is considering becoming a DPG.

Click here to see Uli’s Hacktoberfest issues

Open Terms Archive

From the maintainer, Matti Schneider: “Open Terms Archive records, publicly archives and makes readable every change to the terms of digital services. Our community analyses these changes, shifting the power balance from big tech towards end users and regulators.

Open Terms Archive is considering becoming a DPG.

Click here to see Open Terms Archive’s Hacktoberfest issue

OpenFisca

From the maintainer, Matti Schneider: “OpenFisca is the most widely adopted free and open-source engine to write Rules as Code. By modelling law and regulation for any jurisdiction in the world and making it accessible over APIs, it enables: developers to easily deliver apps calculating complex taxes and benefits through its JSON web API, and datascientists to compute large-scale through its vectorial Python API; economic researchers to use survey or administrative data to simulate the impact of any past, future, or hypothetical reform on the income of a given population; institutions to efficiently get and share regulation across public bodies in the form of legible parameters and executable code, providing algorithmic transparency and reducing the bill to the taxpayer.

OpenFisca is considering becoming a DPG.

Click here to see OpenFisca’s Hacktoberfest issues

Rahat

From the maintainer, Ruchin Singh: “Rahat is a collection of open source blockchain-based digital relief distribution management projects for humanitarian agencies to support marginalized communities. We are a community of contributors - developers, volunteers, researchers and the humanitarian sector including employees of Rumsan Associates. We create an environment where our community can effectively explore, create innovative and open aid distribution technology services which are inclusive, accountable and accessible for everyone. For more information, please see here.

Rahat is a certified DPG.

Click here and here to view Rahat’s Hacktoberfest issues

Kotani Pay

From the maintainer, Brian Kimotho: Kotani Pay is a digital asset to fiat currency conversion platform that links blockchain protocols, decentralized applications and fintechs to local payment channels in Africa. Businesses can use the API to enable payouts into bank or mobile money accounts. The API also powers the SMS wallet for end users who do not have access to the internet. The SMS wallet uses a USSD interface where users can do simple tasks with their blockchain wallets such as setting up their accounts, sending money to other users, check their balances and withdrawing to local currencies.

Kotani Pay API is a certified DPG.

Click here and here to see Kotani Pay’s Hacktoberfest issues