“We are all in”: speaking for Sierra Leone's tech diaspora at the UN General Assembly

In September 2026, during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly, I spoke at a side event on Sierra Leone’s open-source journey. I spoke on behalf of Sierra Leoneans in Technology (SLinT), the diaspora technology community I co-founded and led as its founding president. Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Communication, Technology and Innovation reported the remarks under three words: “We are all in.”

What I committed us to

As the Ministry reported it, the message was simple:

• Sierra Leone’s tech diaspora includes people who have deployed open-source systems used by millions, and we are ready to share what that takes.
• That experience is feeding into Sierra Leone’s digital public goods pipeline, so that what Sierra Leone builds can also be adopted by other African countries.
• The Government has opened the door. Our side of the bargain is knowledge transfer, a continuing partnership with the Ministry, and giving back.

Why it is personal

Sierra Leone validated its first open-source software policy for the public sector in November 2025, making open-source tools the default for government digital infrastructure. A policy like that needs people who can deploy, secure and maintain the systems it calls for, and building those people is the work I have done all my career.

I contributed to the Sierra Leone Learning Passport with the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation, UNICEF and the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, which reached 50,000+ students. I architected SLOEDP, Sierra Leone’s first open election data platform, adopted by the Independent Media Commission and hosted at Njala University. The full record is on my past-performance page, and the speaking page lists this and my other talks.

Where the work continues

This commitment is also the work of my company, TSL Intelligence Lab, where I am founder and principal consultant. Its research programme on digital public goods for education in West Africa asks what makes a platform adoptable by a ministry or university that cannot pay recurring licence fees, and what it takes for a national system to stay maintained.

If you are working on Sierra Leone’s open-source agenda, or a similar one elsewhere in Africa, email tamba@tambalamin.me.