2025-11-18 –, Main Room
This research paper explores the geopolitical dimensions of digital public infrastructure (DPI) through the lens of “stack curation” — the intentional assembly and export of open-source digital components by nation states which reflect and project their governing philosophies. Moving beyond technological determinism or mere functional use cases, we argue that these 'national' stacks(i.e,. India Stack, Deutschland Stack, etc) are increasingly curated as expressions of techno-nationalist strategy. These curated stacks are not neutral: even when they are built from ostensibly open technologies, their composition, deployment, and framing are tightly linked to national influence, compatibility agendas, and diplomatic alignment(Digital Sovereignty being one of the most contentious topics).
This phenomenon represents a new layer of soft—and arguably hard—power, where open-source projects become a tool of export. Our research asks: How are open-source digital infrastructural components curated to advance national, geopolitical and security agendas, and what implications exist for digital sovereignty and global cooperation? How (if at all) do open source communities perceive such tension?
Drawing on emerging examples from India, China, and the EU, we examine how “stack diplomacy” operates through the selection, orchestration, and global promotion of digital systems, and interrogate its consequences for global digital governance, including risks of dependency, fragmentation, and co-optation of open source ideals and way of working.
This paper examines the rise of open national digital infrastructures (DI) or “sovereign technology stacks” as instruments of geopolitical and security strategy. Across regions, states increasingly assemble layered “stacks” that integrate technology, governance, finance, and policy to project influence and advance national agendas.
Here, we introduce the concept of stack curation, defined as the intentional selection, configuration, and export of open-source components to serve geopolitical and security objectives. Even when built from ostensibly open technologies, curated stacks embed national priorities and reproduce power through infrastructural interdependencies.
Drawing on two comparative cases, China’s Gitee platform and the U.S. Government’s PEPFAR program and its DHIS2-based health information systems, the paper proposes a typology of curatorial mechanisms (selection, canonization, gatekeeping, dependence, domestication) and examines their implications for global digital governance and the evolving politics of “openness” as an instrument of sovereignty.
Cassie Jiun Seo is a public-interest technology specialist focused on the sustainable use of technology in humanitarian, development, and migration nexus. She consults the World Health Organization on free and open-source solutions for epidemic preparedness, personal health records, and global interoperability of health credentials. Previously, she led the digital unit at the Norwegian Refugee Council, supporting large-scale humanitarian and emergency operations. She is an affiliate at the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at Cambridge University, where she researches technology practices in humanitarian contexts.
Signe is a doctoral candidate at the University of Cambridge exploring the intersections of international security, dual-use technology and infrastructure, and human rights.
She is a research affiliate at the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy (University of Cambridge) working with the ICRC's Delegation for Cyberspace, and is also an affiliate to the Secretariat to the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Climate and Security.
Previously, Signe worked at Chatham House's International Security Programme and has consulted for the Centre for Information Resilience and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.