At an event in New York on September 25, 2025, the Open Data Policy Lab announced the NYU Peace Research and Education Program (PREP) housed at IHDSC as the winners of their 2025 New Commons Challenge. The Challenge recognizes initiatives developing data commons - data resources that are pooled, responsibly governed, and made widely available for public benefit - that fuel responsible, community-driven AI innovation. NYU PREP was honored for its Malawi Voice Data Commons, an initiative that creates and leverages multilingual datasets to enable rural Malawians to report emergencies in native languages. This innovation strengthens humanitarian response and preserves cultural heritage in Malawi. .This recognition highlights PREP’s leadership in using AI technology for peace and inclusion, reflecting their commitment to ensuring that innovation strengthens global equity by partnering with and serving  communities. To learn more about the Malawi Voice Data Commons, check out this recent blog post from Marine Collins Ragnet and Katerina Siira of NYU PREP.