Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure
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  • THE DPI WIKI
    • πŸŽ‰About the DPI Wiki
    • πŸ”†What is DPI?
    • ✨DPI Overview
    • πŸ“DPI Tech Architecture Principles
      • πŸ”—Interoperability
      • 🧱Minimalist & Reusable Building Blocks
      • πŸ’‘Diverse, Inclusive Innovation
      • πŸ’ Federated & Decentralised by Design
      • πŸ”Security & Privacy By Design
    • 🎯DPI Implementation & Execution Guidance
    • πŸ†šDPG and DPI
    • ❓What DPI can I build?
    • πŸ₯‡First use case for DPI
    • πŸ“˜Inputs for designing a DPI informed digital transformation strategy
    • πŸ’°How much does it cost to build DPI?
    • πŸ“’Is my system a DPI?
      • TL; DR - Is my system a DPI?
  • Mythbusters and FAQs
    • πŸ”―DPI and Mandating Adoption
    • πŸ”―DPI and Private Competition
    • πŸ”―DPI and Privacy / Security
    • πŸ”―DPI and the Digital Divide
  • Technical Notes
    • πŸ†”Identifiers & Registries
      • Digital ID
        • Capabilities on ID system
        • ID-Auth
        • Face Authentication
        • eKYC/ Identity profile sharing
        • Single Sign On (SSO)
        • QR Code for Offline ID
    • πŸ“‚Data Sharing, Credentials and Models
      • A primer to personal data sharing
      • Data standards
      • Verifiable Credentials
      • Building Data Analytics Pipelines
      • eLockers
      • Non-personal Anonymised Datasets
    • πŸ”Trust Infra
      • Digital Signatures and PKI
      • eConsent
      • eSign
    • πŸ›’Discovery & Fulfilment
      • Platforms to Protocols
    • πŸ’ΈPayments
      • Financial Address
      • Interoperable QR Code
      • Interoperable Authentication
      • Interoperable Bill Payments
      • Cash in Cash Out (CICO)
      • Financial Address Mapper (G2P Connect)
      • G2P Payments
  • Initiatives
    • 🌐DPI advisory
    • πŸš€DPI as a Packaged Solution (DaaS)
      • πŸ’‘Why do we need DaaS?
      • 🎯DaaS in a nutshell
      • πŸ“¦Pre-packaged DaaS kits
      • ♻️Reusable DaaS Artefacts
      • 3️⃣A 3-step process from idea to implementation!
      • πŸ“ˆFunded DaaS Program overview
      • πŸ‘©β€πŸ’»Cohort 1: DaaS Offerings
        • Digital authentication
        • Digital credentials
        • ID Account Mapper
      • πŸ–₯️Co-create with us!
      • πŸ’¬Upcoming DaaS cohorts
        • Functional Registries
        • AI Assistant
      • ❓FAQs on DaaS
        • Country x DPG MOU /LoI FAQs
        • Ecosystem Participation Terms FAQs
    • πŸ“‘DPI Residents Program
    • βš–οΈDPI-CPA
    • πŸ’ΈG2P Connect
    • πŸ“¨User Centric Credentialing & Personal Data Sharing
    • βš•οΈDPI for Health
    • 🌍Agri Connect (forthcoming)
  • References
    • Glossary
    • Curated Specifications
  • Additional Info
    • 🀝Licensing
    • ✍️Contact Us
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  1. THE DPI WIKI

DPG and DPI

Are DPGs and DPI the same thing? Are DPGs necessary to build DPI? Read on to know more!

PreviousDPI Implementation & Execution GuidanceNextWhat DPI can I build?

Last updated 1 year ago

Digital Public Goods (DPG) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) are two distinct yet complementary concepts.

As described in the , digital public goods are:

However, not all Digital Public Goods can be used as building blocks for DPI.

DPI can be built through open source (or private solutions) only as long as they adhere to open specifications, generate network effects, and trigger both public and private innovation.

DPGs having their own lifestyle and governance means that DPGs are set up by independent institutions that can predate or outlast country specific DPI. They have their own governing bodies and mechanisms to update their infrastructure outside country context.

Using open source components can help ensure that best practices are incorporated, rapid deployment and scale is achieved, dependency or lock-ins are avoided, and minimum efforts can unlock maximum gains. OpenG2P, OpenSPP, or CoreMIS for government benefits or MOSIP for identity projects are examples of DPGs used to help build DPI infrastructure in countries.

However, DPI can equally be built without DPGs or any Open Source components as well, though it may take a little more time, money, and expertise. Governments can choose to build their own DPI from scratch by using proprietary software, and private vendors - as long as they follow the principles of minimalism, interoperability driven by shared specifications, federation, inclusion, privacy, and security.

Even if a country is using proprietary software, it should still use open specifications. For example, regardless of the software used, it would incorporate ISO standards for payments or G2P connect specifications for G2P service delivery to ensure interoperability or choice for users, and avoid vendor lock-in for institutions.

At CDPI, we respect the autonomy of countries to choose whichever path (open source, private, hybrid) that suits their unique needs, and work with countries that opt for any path.

Our suggestion is that even if a country wants to build their own infrastructure from scratch - please always review the open source components available, and ask the private TSPs to ensure that all best practice features available in open source are incorporated into the private systems built. Open source is a useful benchmark, even if not used directly. This can ensure that country designers get the best of both worlds, and keep up with the latest developments in the community.

A stack of DPGs that are interoperable and scalable can come together to build a DPI infrastructure in countries - such as via for social benefit programs.

For suggestions on which open specifications and open source you can reuse to build different DPI, please .

πŸ†š
see here
UN Secretary General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation
G2P Connect
For more information on DPGs, please visit
https://digitalpublicgoods.net/standard/