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3. Clear Ownership

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Bolaji Ayodeji edited this page Sep 3, 2024 · 8 revisions

Note

Indicator Requirement: "Ownership of assets that the digital public good produces must be clearly defined and documented."

For this indicator, the ownership (individual or an organisation) of the project and everything the project produces must be clearly defined and publicly documented so that there are no inconsistencies/misrepresentations. Ownership is important because it defines accountability. Below are recommendations for each DPG category.

Open Software

Clear ownership for software solutions includes mentioning details of ownership on:

  • Your public source repository's (e.g., GitHub) README page.
  • Your public software license.
  • The public website of the project.

Open AI Systems

Ownership of an AI System refers to all these factors:

  • The steward of the data set.
  • The owner of the code for the AI model.
  • The owner of the software component.

You need to have proof of ownership (or stewardship in the case of data) of all three (3) aspects, for the AI System to be attributed to you. A good way to provide proof of ownership is to have your name:

  • Listed on both the public licenses of the data set as well as the software component.
  • Displayed on the public website of your project.
  • Displayed on the public source repository's (e.g., GitHub) README page.

Open Data

Clear ownership for data sets includes:

  • Declaring the type of organisation publicly.
  • Naming the data governance committee and declaring the policies publicly.
  • Naming the stewarding committee publicly.

Open Content

Clear ownership of content and assets that the digital solution produces includes:

  • Stating who owns the intellectual property of the content (organization, publisher, project, etc) on your public license or website.
  • Providing a link to any copyright section in your public website, terms of use, or trademark documents that mention the ownership of this content. Here are some copyright notice examples and templates you can explore.

Tip

Here's a collection of extra resources and helpful links curated by the DPGA and the DPG community you can explore or contribute to.

Digital Public Goods (DPGs) are open-source software, open data, open AI systems, and open content collections that adhere to privacy and other applicable laws and best practices, do no harm, and help attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). If you have any questions regarding the DPG application process or anything else, you can ask directly to the DPG Community for guidance or send us an email; we're available to help you.


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