Representatives from a variety of backgrounds, including policy makers, legal experts, computer scientists, librarians and archivists, appealed to UNESCO’s Member States, international organizations, business leaders and civil society, to preserve, collect and share the existing software commons as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This appeal was made at an expert meeting co-organized by UNESCO and Inria on 6 and 7 November. The meeting was an important milestone in the roadmap of the vigorous partnership started in 2017 between the UNESCO and Inria on this matter.