Opinion: Why digital public infrastructure matters more than you think

It is only when the lights go out during a storm, or when roads and trucks continue to bring food and sustenance to our doorsteps during lockdowns that we tend to appreciate the value of our world’s infrastructure. Yet digital public infrastructure, the underlying network of digital platforms that allow governments to provide vital public services to citizens — from cash transfers to online education to e-health — is being overlooked. Digital public infrastructure is open, accessible, and inclusive by default — allowing other countries to reuse and replicate. Like electricity grids bringing power and light to homes, hospitals, and schools, an inclusive digital public infrastructure can provide new flows and benefits that are accessible to everyone. Without major investment in these vital building blocks of our digital society, many countries risk being left behind, unable to reap the benefits of our new digital world. Like health, education, or social protection systems or even public parks and libraries, societies need infrastructure to function. That is also true of digital public infrastructure, also referred to as DPI. Citizens can access public services 24 hours a day at their fingertips, without sometimes costly trips from rural villages to cities — a significant barrier in many developing countries, most notably for women. The benefits have been clearer than ever in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Countries that used digital databases to extend social assistance programs such as cash transfers during the COVID-19 pandemic were able to reach more than half of their populations on average. That included Togo, which had already set up a biometric population registry that allowed it to send rapid financial assistance to citizens via a cash transfer tool. Countries that did not have these digital databases in place reached 16% of their population. Inclusive and sustainable DPI is also a means to ensure that countries are much more resilient in the face of crisis and can thrive in the global digital economy. For example, India was able to vaccinate one billion people within a matter of months thanks to an existing digital vaccination registration system known as CoWIN. That was facilitated through a DPI that brings digital ID and payment platforms together as the ‘digital roads and bridges’ that support the provision of a vast number of digital public services. Or consider the African Continental Free Trade Area. It includes establishing a digital public infrastructure that will facilitate data exchanges and payments among countries in the Africa Union, ultimately driving economic growth, reducing poverty, and advancing human development. DPI includes digital public goods such as open data and open-source software that can drive forward global efforts to address our common challenges as outlined in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals — everything from advancing gender equality to restoring our natural world. For example, look to the Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture, or DiCRA, program in India. It makes climate data accessible — providing instant information on where, when, and what to plant, thereby boosting livelihoods and enhancing food security. Along with over 140 digital solutions and counting, DiCRA is openly accessible on the Digital Public Goods Registry — allowing countries across the world to use this technology to adapt their food systems in the face of an accelerating climate emergency. Digital is also a sensible business decision by governments. Estonia, for instance, was able to save at least 2% of its GDP each year through digital technologies. Low- and middle-income countries could even speed up their GDP growth by as much as 20-33% with the adoption of digital public infrastructure in the finance sector. Moreover, having a digital public infrastructure in place with the right safeguards can build countries’ resilience to cyberattacks, which are among the top 10 global risks in the next decade. DPI is now garnering more attention globally as many countries look to digital to accelerate their development priorities. Bill Gates, who predicted a pandemic like COVID-19 in 2015, said: “I urge everyone — leaders of countries in a position to build digital public infrastructure and leaders in a position to support it — to recognize the great promise of this moment.” While there have been new investments, there is an acute need for more global coordination to ensure that no country is left behind. Ensuring a more coordinated financing mechanism to sustain support for the development and implementation of DPI, complemented with knowledge and best practices sharing among countries is paramount. That is among the key aims of India’s 2023 presidency of the group of industrial nations G-20 — composed of most of the world’s largest economies — which has put DPI high on the agenda in line with the United Nations. It has prioritized the ambition for an inclusive, rights-based, and sustainable digital public infrastructure — a set of shared digital building blocks powered by open and interoperable standards, allowing countries, especially low- and middle-income countries, to rapidly build out their own DPI. As some countries suffer from crumbling traditional infrastructure, there is now a pressing need for prescient investments in digital public infrastructure worldwide. These represent new arteries that will allow countries and communities to make a high-speed connection to a greener, more sustainable, and more inclusive future for all.