Who we are
The Outrigger Project is a First Nations-owned social enterprise, based in Narrm (Melbourne), Australia. We are building Open Outrigger, a free and open-source AI-enabled platform that will help NGOs and locally led organisations develop and maintain strong organisational systems, from governance to safeguarding.
We exist to make sure AI arrives in the region's development sector on terms that strengthen local organisations rather than leave them behind. Open Outrigger will be co-designed and tested with local organisations across the Indo-Pacific, alongside the experts behind the standards it draws on. The core platform will be permanently free for all to use.
Our vision
An Indo-Pacific development sector that is locally led, inclusive, accountable and equipped for the AI era
This means:
Local organisations running on quality frameworks they have developed themselves through structured AI use
Development partners applying a shared standard for responsible AI use in organisational strengthening
Our name
Over thousands of years, Austronesian peoples shared outrigger boat technology across the Indo-Pacific, creating some of the first true ocean-going vessels. Every culture they reached adapted the design to suit local conditions, allowing even the smallest boats to cross open oceans.
As AI spreads through the region, The Outrigger Project seeks to reflect this history. No matter how small, local NGOs should be able to adapt AI their way and use it to cross new oceans.
Map adapted from "Chronological dispersal of Austronesian people across the Pacific (per Benton et al, 2012, adapted from Bellwood, 2011)" by Obsidian Soul, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Redrawn in simplified form with labels, dates and detail removed.
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