Cboard at the 4th Annual DPGA Meeting 2025 in Brasilia

Cboard is a verified Digital Public Good that provides augmentative and alternative communication solutions.

In November, the Cboard team participated in the 4th Annual Meeting of the Digital Public Goods Alliance in Brasilia, Brazil. Over three days, more than one hundred representatives from DPGA member organizations—including governments, digital public good owners, and developers—gathered to explore how DPGs can be integrated into public digital infrastructure in different locations, and how these technologies improve people’s lives.

DPGA AMM welcome ceremony

Cboard at the DPG Fair

Cboard is part of the verified Digital Public Goods in the DPG Registry and was present at the DPG Fair. Our stand became a meeting point for educators, developers, government representatives, and organizations interested in augmentative and alternative communication solutions.

Cboard booth at the DPG Fair

What we shared at our stand

• Live demos: Visitors were able to experience how Cboard works, creating their own communication boards and exploring different features and languages.
• Use cases: We shared videos and testimonials from users in different countries, illustrating tangible impact in people’s lives.
• Technology integration: We presented our latest innovations, including voice synthesis with ElevenLabs.

Live demos during the DPG Fair.

Impact presentation

One of the most meaningful moments of our participation was the presentation on Cboard’s impact across global contexts. We shared concrete results from three key implementations:

Western Balkans

In the Western Balkans, we ran a pilot with UNICEF support. Regional collaboration enabled sharing resources and practices among therapists and educators who confirmed that an open-source AAC tool can scale quickly when localized and supported with facilitation.

Timor-Leste

In Timor-Leste, we ran pilots through Cboard. These showed how a digital tool can overcome linguistic and cultural barriers, adapting to local Tetum and Portuguese while delivering training for educators.

Uruguay

Uruguay is also a transformative case, where Cboard moved beyond the pilot phase to become an integral part of Plan Ceibal. As a public digital infrastructure for accessibility, Cboard is being used systematically in Uruguayan schools, democratizing access to AAC tools for all students who need them.

The integration of Cboard into Plan Ceibal represents a model of how digital public goods can scale from local pilots to national accessibility infrastructure.

Impact presentation of Cboard in different locations during the DPG Fair.

Connections and learnings

The DPGA AMM enabled us to build valuable connections:

• Interest from new countries: We had rich conversations with government representatives interested in learning more about Cboard and exploring adaptations to their local contexts.
• DPG-to-DPG collaborations: We found interesting intersections with other digital public goods in education and health, opening conversations on how our tools could complement each other.
• Sustainability models: Dialogue with other DPGs gave us valuable perspectives on funding and maintenance approaches.

The discussions in Brasilia reinforced several priorities for our future work:

• Scalability as DPI: Uruguay’s example demonstrates Cboard’s potential as a replicable public digital infrastructure in other national contexts.
• Interoperability: The need for open standards that allow Cboard to integrate with other education and health systems.
• Community sustainability: Continuing to strengthen our community of contributors and users.
• Ethical and accessible AI: Continuing to explore how AI can improve accessibility.

Reflections from South America

As a team with roots in Argentina, it was especially meaningful to take part in the first AMM in South America. Seeing Cboard recognized alongside other transformative DPGs—and especially its adoption as public digital infrastructure in Uruguay—reinforces our commitment to the region.

The collaborative energy of the meeting created a unique environment where ideas flowed freely and collaborations emerged naturally.

Next steps

We returned from Brasilia with an ambitious agenda:

• Expand the Uruguay model: Work with other countries interested in adopting Cboard as part of their digital education infrastructure.
• Strengthen partnerships: Deepen collaboration with other DPGs and DPIs.

Acknowledgements

We thank DPGA and the Government of Brazil for organizing this transformative gathering. A special thanks to everyone who visited our stand at the DPG Fair and to those who attended our presentation.

The journey of Cboard from an open-source tool to public digital infrastructure is a testament to the power of global collaboration and local commitment. We will continue working to make access to communication technologies an infrastructure available to all.

Members and participants of the DPGA Annual Meeting 2025