Ben Bertelsen

Policy and Project Manager with the United Nations
Development Programme. Writing and working in the
intersection of government, open technology and
artificial intelligence for developing countries.

Selected Work

01

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)

Advocating for the DPI approach to advance inclusive national digital transformation and for digital public goods (DPGs) from UNDP global platform. Learn more of our work advising governments on digital strategy, flagship reports, and multilateral events (UNGA, G7, G20).

United Nations General Assembly Hall
02

Advancing Good Governance for Digital ID

Led development and production of UNDP's Model Governance Framework for Digital Legal Identity. Including using the framework for assessments in +5 countries across eight governance dimensions — from data protection to anti-corruption.

UNDP Model Governance Framework for Digital Legal Identity
03

Bolstering long-term digital capacity in government

Co-designed initiative with the European Commission and ITU to establish government-hosted open source programme offices (OSPOs) in developing countries. Launched in Trinidad and Tobago, and Kenya (Dec 2024).

Woman working at a computer in a government office
04

AI Readiness: Government Skills & Capacities Framework (Coming 2026)

Developing guidance on the skills, institutional capacities, and structures governments need to adopt and govern AI sustainably.

Person standing in a doorway in a developing country

Writing

Selected writing on digital public infrastructure, open source, and AI governance.

Side Projects

01

TV2 AI Meta-Commentary (2025)

An AI that generates real-time meta-commentary on Danish news articles from TV2 — surfacing context, bias, and framing with a humorous twist. Vibecoded with Claude Code.

TV2 AI meta-commentary project screenshot
02

SecondSale (2021–22)

Startup venture. A B2B analytics platform for fashion brands to track their resale marketplace performance. Co-founded and built to prototype stage with early brand clients. Now deprecated.

SecondSale platform screenshot

About

I'm a project manager and digital policy specialist based in Copenhagen.

I work on digital public infrastructure, open-source in government, and AI governance at UNDP. I manage a nimble team in HQ and a project portfolio advancing digital transformation in 15+ countries together with country-based colleagues and partners.

Prior to UNDP I was part of Deloitte's practice on Government Digital Transformation focusing on workflow automation, AI/ML adoption and systems transformation. My current role is a mix of project and partnerships management, technical assistance to partner countries, and shaping UNDP's technology policy positions.

I hold an MSc in International Business and Politics from Copenhagen Business School.

United Nations Development Programme Manager, Digital Public Infrastructure
2022 –
United Nations Development Programme Consultant
2021–2022
WordPay (seed-stage fintech startup) Product Manager
2020–2021
Deloitte Gov Digital Transformation Sr. Consultant
2016–2020
Danish Parliament Political Communications Associate
2015–2016
COWI Strategy & Economics Project Assistant
2013–2016