The Brookings Institution Joins the DPI Conversation
Digital public infrastructure (DPI) may be a relatively new term, but the work of digital transformation to catalyze efficiencies in the delivery of public and private services has been ongoing for decades.
Only recently have actors including the United Nations and the World Bank converged on highlighting the importance of taking an infrastructure approach to digital transformation, supporting the development of cross-sectoral technologies that deliver impact at national scale.
As a result, officials within governments and development organizations that have a sectoral mandate (agriculture, health, poverty, etc.) may prioritize digitization in their field but are less likely to understand how their work intersects with horizontal DPI efforts. Other important decision makers cannot distinguish between DPI and broadband. Still others are unfamiliar with the concept of governments playing a role in building societal scale technology. There is a need to expand understanding of what DPI is and how it relates to specific use cases to demonstrate its utility and why some early movers are exploring the “public” deployment of technology.
The Brookings Institution, in partnership with Co-Develop, has launched a program to bridge knowledge gaps and foster a conversation around key questions related to the deployment of DPI in countries globally. Brookings will hold four dialogues related to how DPI impacts inclusion, such as DPI’s potential to drive gender equity and help government programs reach the last mile, as well as its potential risks, such as when governments deploy DPI in fragile sociopolitical environments.
The work will be led by the Brookings Center for Sustainable Development. Brookings’ stellar reputation for rigor and independence position it well to lead an objective review of these issues. In the past, the team produced a paper on how DPI-related technologies can impact attainment of the SDGs. If the project is successful, the work should not only inform how dialogue participants engage with DPI in their roles but also inform how key decision makers in development institutions approach digital transformation.
If you would like to participate in these dialogues, please let us know by reaching out to info@codevelop.fund.