By Keongmin Yoon, Olivier Dupriez, Bryan Cahill and Katie Bannon
The World Bank has long championed data transparency. Open data platforms, global indicators, and reproducible research have become pillars of the Bank’s knowledge work. But in many operational contexts, access to raw data alone is not enough. Turning data into insight requires tools—software to structure metadata, run models, update systems, and integrate outputs into national platforms.
With this in mind, the World Bank has released its first Open Source Software (OSS) tool under a new institutional licensing framework. The Metadata Editor—a lightweight application for structuring and publishing statistical metadata—is now publicly available on the bank’s GitHub repository, under the widely used MIT License, supplemented by bank-specific legal provisions.
This release marks more than a technical milestone. It reflects a structural shift in how the bank shares its data and knowledge. For the first time, there is a clear institutional framework for making bank-developed software open, reusable, and legally shareable—advancing the bank’s commitment to public goods, transparency, Open Science, and long-term development impact, as emphasized in The Knowledge Compact for Action.
A tool designed for reuse—and built to scale
The Metadata editor was originally created to help bank teams manage statistical metadata in line with its Development Data Quality Policy. The tool helps produce high-quality metadata, which is critical to make development data credible, discoverable, interoperable, usable, and AI-ready. Quickly, the tool was recognized to have utility beyond the bank’s internal workflows. National statistics offices, international partners, and academic institutions expressed interest in using—and adapting—the tool for their own documentation systems.
Since the open-source release, this interest has translated into concrete collaboration. PARIS21 hosted at the OECD is co-investing in the development of new features and is joining the outreach to interested national statistics offices in low and middle-income countries. INEGI, Mexico’s national statistics and geography institute, is co-designing enhancements to support geographic datasets, with financial support from the Inter-American Development Bank. These contributions are happening in close coordination with the World Bank and other partners—not through bespoke licensing arrangements, but through a shared, open foundation.
Making open source work for development
Open-source licensing allows OSS tools to be shared alongside the data they support. It extends the value of public finance beyond the life of any individual project, enabling institutions to adopt, adapt, and maintain software over time. It also supports reproducibility. By combining shared data, code, and documentation, users can verify methods, replicate results, and apply models in new contexts.
The World Bank’s adoption of open-source licensing was made possible by the development of a new institutional framework—designed to ensure legal clarity while maximizing reuse. The framework was also developed with the Office of Information Security and takes in those considerations as well. Tools like the Metadata Editor are now released under the MIT License, a permissive model used widely in the open-source community.
To reflect the bank’s institutional status as an intergovernmental organization, the license includes a short rider that preserves bank’s unique legal protections and defines a neutral dispute resolution process. These adjustments ensure that the Bank can participate meaningfully in the open-source ecosystem without compromising its legal position.
Read more on the World Bank’s new approach to OSS.
From one-off releases to a repeatable model
The Metadata editor is more than a single software tool—it’s a demonstration of what’s now possible. It represents a broader category of public sector software: tools with limited commercial appeal but high public value, particularly in data-poor or resource-constrained environments. These tools are often tailored to operational needs but can be generalized, localized, and extended with the right foundation.
Until now, the bank’s ability to release software was limited by legal and procedural complexity. Each release required custom legal terms and ad hoc reviews. The new licensing framework replaces that model with a clear, repeatable structure—enabling more teams to share tools openly, efficiently, and at scale.
To ensure implementation is consistent and sustainable, the Bank’s Open Source Program Office (OSPO) (github@worldbank.org) provides support for internal teams releasing software. OSPO manages the Bank’s GitHub presence, coordinates technical review, develops licensing guidance, and represents the bank in open-source governance communities. In addition, all OSS releases continue to be reviewed and cleared by the World Bank’s legal vice presidency, while a forthcoming list of approved and excluded licenses will help standardize the process further.
A foundation for what comes next
This release reflects collaboration across the bank’s legal, development economics, and information technology and solutions units, and other teams—and signals the beginning of a new phase in the bank’s knowledge work.
Open source software is now part of the institutional toolkit, joining data and publications as a core component of how the bank shares what it builds.
As more tools follow this model, the World Bank is better positioned to support reproducible research, digital capacity building, and country-led innovation—using software not just as a delivery mechanism, but as a public good in its own right.
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