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.
Related Articles
Data Commons: Building Infrastructure for Peace Technology
As artificial intelligence reshapes global systems, ensuring its benefits reach conflict-affected and crisis-vulnerable populations requires deliberate infrastructure development. Data commons offer a pathway toward peace technology that serves rather than surveils, includes rather than excludes, and empowers rather than extracts.
AI Across Sectors: Bridging Technology and Peacebuilding
On September 24th, NYU's Peace Research and Education Program (PREP) hosted an event that brought together experts from diverse fields to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, global development, and peacebuilding.
NYU Peace Research and Education Program joins the Institute of Human Development and Social Change
We are thrilled to welcome the Peace Research and Education Program (PREP) as the newest affiliate in the Institute of Human Development and Social Chance (IHDSC) network!
