Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has increasingly become a buzzword among digital policymakers, who frame it as a public interest mechanism that can bring millions into the digital economy, ease governmental service administration, and streamline day-to-day interactions for all citizens. However, before DPI can be touted as a solution to sustainable development, its ownership, openness, and interoperability need to be critically addressed in the context of digital inequality, demand-side constraints and broader data governance.
While, conceptually, DPI is still in its nascent stages and there is to-date no clear consensus around its definition, most agree that there are four central infrastructures comprising the foundation of DPI: digital network (broadband) infrastructure, digital ID infrastructure, digital financial payments infrastructure, and data infrastructure and exchange systems. However, beyond these pillars, there are also the frameworks, regulatory guidelines and common principles that are essential to its effective implementation.
Without data governance, integrated regulation and foundational principles —such as access to information, data protection and interoperability — DPI stands to exacerbate rather than solve the uneven distribution of digital harms and opportunities. This is because, despite the potential of DPIs to contribute to more equitable inclusion in the digital and data economy, they are not inherently equalisers. What’s more, for DPI to function interoperably across borders, it must be aligned with regional, continental and international standards such as the European and African Union’s existing data policy frameworks. Without this, the likelihood of initiatives such as a single digital market or an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is slim.
Finally, DPI’s developmental potential depends on the protection and enforcement of first, second and third-generation rights, as well as the redress of economic injustices which are mirrored in digital inequalities. For example, DPI functionality is conditional to data availability, yet, currently, our After Access research shows that millions of Africans are invisible to the state and consequently underrepresented in national datasets used to make decisions about their lives. This data paucity is a direct consequence of limited internet penetration, lack of meaningful access to affordable devices, and other demand-side constraints, such as limited digital literacy in the Global South.
Without concerted efforts towards inclusive digital transformation, gathering the citizen data needed to actively include them in digitalisation and DPI processes will prove difficult, and the benefits of DPIs will be highly unequal. Similarly, access to this data requires effective collaboration with, and regulation of, the private sector companies that currently own and control massive amounts of public data through proprietary platforms, often without public accountability or adequate privacy measures. To ensure fair competition for local providers, enhanced data access for the state, and protection of citizens’ personal information, cross-sector collaboration and regulation is necessary.
Research agenda
- Support the development of a common, non-binding set of principles for DPIs, especially concerning data justice, interoperability, and openness, to encourage the implementation of G20’s policy recommendations for effective participatory governance, accountability, sustainability, and inclusive digital development.
- Shift focus from physical digital public infrastructure to the related regulatory frameworks and governance standards necessary to support its implementation.
- Support the alignment of national policy with broader policy frameworks from both the continent and the international landscape, ensuring interoperability and facilitating cross-border data exchange.
- Analyse the influence of digital inequality and economic injustice on the efficacy of DPI as a tool for sustainable development.
- Investigate the potential channels for cross-sector collaboration between public and private actors, with the aim of shifting ownership and control towards the state while still allowing for competitive market engagements.
Our partners
Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations
