This article is written by Benjamin Bertelsen, Product Specialist, and Calum Handforth, Digital Programmes Strategic Manager at the UNDP Chief Digital Office.

  • The problem: Digital transformation can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but is not always being implemented in a strategic or joined-up way – and learnings are not often shared widely. This is in part due to a reliance on closed-source or proprietary solutions.
  • Why it matters: The world is at the midway point of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda (also known as the SDGs) and we are significantly behind. Close to 50% of the SDGs are not showing sufficient progress, and some 30% have either seen no movement or regressed. Digital could be a valuable tool to get us back on track.
  • The solution: Digital public infrastructure (DPI) is an approach to digital transformation that emphasises open solutions, open standards and open protocols. Shaping a DPI approach could accelerate countries' digital public service delivery, catalyse private sector innovation and drive sustainable development.

Shaping a DPI approach requires governments to focus on inclusion – and key technical components such as standards, openness and interoperability from the outset.

Digital public infrastructure (DPI) is a critical enabler of digital transformation and is increasingly shaping today’s digital economies and societies. It is made up of digital building blocks that can enable effective public and private service delivery. This includes components such as digital ID, digital payment infrastructure, and data exchange layers. But these foundational elements can also be combined with more specialised infrastructure in order to achieve specific thematic benefits. For example, digital platforms such as health information management systems can leverage the above components for improved health outcomes. This article explores some of the key characteristics of this ‘sectoral’ digital public infrastructure – and what they can mean for development.

The Covid-19 pandemic has reaffirmed that digital development is no longer optional. Countries with proven and established digital public infrastructure (DPI) were able to better support their citizens and communities. For example, countries with digital ID – or database equivalents – were able to deliver Covid-19 support to more than three times as many people compared to countries without this infrastructure. But besides responding to the pandemic, DPI was making an important impact. For example, India’s digital payments infrastructure drove more than US$1tn worth of transactions in 2022 – with payment adoption saving US$12.6bn for businesses and consumers in 2021, and enabling US$16.4bn worth of economic output.

Recognising this importance, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting countries in the design and implementation of inclusive and rights-based DPI. This includes focusing on shaping end-to-end digital public infrastructure – from governance and regulation, to technology and data layers and catalysing a local digital ecosystem to scale and sustain DPI.

Inclusion, openness and interoperability are key principles in this approach – which, in turn, drive innovation across national digital economies. More than just systems and technology, DPI is an approach to countries' digital development that leverages shared, inclusive, digital infrastructure to power government services and foster private sector opportunity.

What is digital public infrastructure?

Digital public infrastructure can be split into two groups: foundational and sectoral.

Foundational digital public infrastructure consists of underlying digital components that help to catalyse a wide range of services. These components include digital identity, digital payment mechanisms and data exchange infrastructure. Foundational DPI is horizontal and cross-cutting and may serve different sectors. For instance, an individual can use their digital ID to open a bank account or register for medical care at a hospital. Or an entrepreneur can use digital payment infrastructure for business or personal use

Sectoral digital public infrastructure consists of similarly central digital pieces, albeit with a specific thematic focus. For example, an information management system for a hospital would be considered a health-sector (or health ‘sectoral’) DPI. An open source content delivery platform for teachers and students would be an education sectoral DPI. Whilst open data systems to improve weather, climate and hydrological analysis could be considered a climate sectoral DPI. Sectoral DPI has some unique characteristics, compared to foundational DPI.

Foundational DPI emphasises the creation of shared technical components that can be used across sectors (for example single sign-on components for people to log in with their digital ID can be implemented on different websites for both public and private sector use. This includes sectoral use cases, such as accessing health information, enrolling students into a school or filing tax returns).

The technical components for sectoral DPI can be more specialised, sometimes with little relevance to other sectors, and these can be driven by technical standards often codified by technical committees and working groups in the relevant sector. For example, open source carbon registries will leverage the internationally-recognised data formats relating to carbon measurement that are enshrined in the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change.

Governance of sectoral DPI can also sometimes be rooted in an ecosystem of national and international actors who help to shape rules, norms and administrative processes. This includes stakeholders with domain expertise who bring experiential knowledge and insights from the particular sector, including in relation to broader issues such as data protection and privacy.

Sectoral DPI can in this way be viewed as end-to-end systems serving a particular sector, but they are systems designed with modular components that can be reassembled and share information in a new country or setting, depending on local requirements. Their development therefore relies on leveraging open and shared digital processes – and catalysing knowledge and collaboration – to most effectively achieve specific sectoral outcomes.

How digital public infrastructure can improve lives and livelihoods

Implementing DPI to support specific sectors or issues can have an enormous impact. For example, climate-related DPI in Mozambique has reduced the number of people affected by flooding by 82% within three years. Whilst a DPI approach for local government e-services in India has scaled to 1,500 cities and implemented e-services at 1/8th of the cost of ‘non-DPI’ or more ad hoc solutions. However, in many sectors where digital is being explored, this work is often being undertaken in silos – without a holistic vision to build shared digital infrastructure. A sectoral DPI approach can provide this more coordinated approach.

Whilst still an evolving concept, the enormous potential of sectoral DPI is already leading to results. This was also reaffirmed in research conducted by UNDP that points to the potential added value of sectoral DPI, not least in accelerating progress on the SDGs in lower-income countries. For example, implementing DPI in the justice system could expand access to justice for more than 50 million additional people by 2030. Whilst a sectoral-DPI approach for tackling carbon emissions could speed up the rate of reducing emissions by more than five years in some countries.

In order to leverage these benefits, governments need to explore a number of key actions and activities. In particular, they need to:

  1. Build technical and strategic understanding regarding the role of digital public infrastructure in government. Making available open and free technical solutions is not enough if governments do not know about them. Civil servants need to be familiar with DPI and its potential – and limits. They should be tools in the government digital toolkit. This also extends to understanding the relevance of open-source more broadly. Partners can support this journey by providing the necessary technical assistance to drive governments to understand, explore and implement digital public infrastructure.

  2. Invest in open-source communities that develop the “building blocks” for digital public infrastructure. DPI – and broader digital development – does not happen in a vacuum. It requires an ecosystem of developers, vendors, innovators and other partners. Governments can engage these communities through more open and relevant procurement and outreach channels, and more focused support to build digital skills and abilities. This can have a powerful multiplier, with open-source vendors able to create sustainable businesses and earn revenue, but often require support at first.

  3. Develop structures for increased knowledge-sharing and technology transfer between cities and countries. A key benefit of DPI and open source solutions is they can be shared across the government – and also with other governments. As the pace of digital transformation accelerates, governments no longer need to start from scratch in many cases - but can adopt and adapt solutions that have been tried-and-tested elsewhere. This can save considerable money.

Digital public infrastructure is a critical enabler of digital transformation and is increasingly shaping today’s digital economies and societies. It can improve the effectiveness, reach and efficiency of government – and catalyse the development of dynamic local digital ecosystems, which in turn can develop and deliver the digital products that citizens expect and deserve. However, shaping a DPI approach requires governments to focus on inclusion – and key technical components such as standards, openness and interoperability from the outset. Achieving these can result in digital infrastructure that can shape and support the lives and livelihoods of people for generations to come.

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