In recent years, digital public infrastructure (DPI) has emerged as a promising driver of trust, inclusion, and equity in our rapidly digitizing world. With its ability to foster financial growth, economic competition, and gender equality, the DPI approach can promote greater government efficiency – and, equally, provide important benefits for people and communities across the globe.
Yet, so far, the benefits of digitalization aren’t being evenly distributed. Of the estimated $800 billion governments will spend on IT in 2024, 88% will take place in mature economies, excluding approximately 160 lower and middle-income countries across the world. These inequalities reflect the need for an alternative, nimbler and more scalable approach – one that DPI can provide. However, for governments to embrace the DPI approach, more robust research is needed to fully understand its financial and economic impacts.
In pursuit of these efforts, and together with Co-Develop, we have compiled a compendium of emerging evidence to shed light on these critical questions. While these efforts are a welcome step in the right direction, alone, they are insufficient. More research is needed to meaningfully understand the DPI approach – and its economic and social implications.
We hope the evidence we have collected will help set the stage for these critical efforts.
