✨DPI Overview
An approach that works to transform nations at scale
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is a phrase now regularly referenced by government officials, think tanks, development institutions, nonprofits, and even global CEOs as a transformational approach to accelerate progress at scale. Countries like Brazil, India, Singapore, Australia, and Thailand have all built and scaled DPI. As with any rapidly evolving concept, every new project and experiment around the world slightly alters what people mean when they use the phrase. At the Centre for DPI, we'd like to put out our thinking to help countries answer the question: what is this “magic sauce” that you call DPI, and how can it fast-track our national digitisation plans to create inclusive and innovative digital economies?
To answer this question, it's useful to first look back. The DPI movement is inspired by the open standards and specifications that created the Internet (TCP-IP, HTTP, HTML, SMTP, etc.) and mobile networks (GSM, SMS, LTE, etc.), which operated as the original digital infrastructure of the late 20th century, triggering a burst of public and private innovation that broke barriers and drove inclusion. Our controversial opinion: no other technology innovation in recent memory - not the iPhone, not the laptop, not even the computer chip - has triggered as much subsequent innovation as those original open standards. Read that again slowly.
So looking ahead, how can countries take a similar approach to catalyse inclusion and innovation in areas such as access to money, healthcare, education, and competitive innovation in services?
The DPI approach is about moving from platforms to open networks powered by protocols. We think there are five (5) foundational categories that make up 21st-century digital public infrastructure: identifiers and registries, data sharing and AI/ML models, trust infrastructure, discovery and fulfilment; and payments.
For a thriving digital economy, these are the functions that should be conveniently accessible at low cost. Fortunately, unlike the mobile networks and internet, DPI requires even less complementary hard infrastructure (wires, cables, cell towers, etc.) to create scalable impact.
These categories are not intended to be mutually exclusive! Payments, on some level, is a type of data sharing. Digital signatures (Trust infrastructure) are used in ID/Payments/Data/Discovery and beyond. Consent (Trust infrastructure) should be used in both ID and in Data exchange. These categories are simply to indicate areas to focus on when crafting DPI.
Moreover, this is not an exhaustive list! These blocks are necessary but not sufficient to achieve a thriving digital economy. It is also important to note that the blocks can only be considered as DPI if they are built in accordance with the technical architecture principles. A data sharing system that is not interoperable, or a digital ID that is not minimalist or reusable, cannot be considered as digital public infrastructure.
Examples of how these DPI blocks can supercharge interactions in society:
Identity Verification: With an individual's consent, any entity can verify their identity (confirming "Are you who you claim to be?") through the e-Authentication capability. Additionally, basic information can be collected through e-KYC ("Can you provide more details about yourself?"). This process helps reduce the costs for services such as banking and insurance.
Payments: This system enables anyone to make digital payments to anyone, including street vendors who may have limited digital or financial literacy, by simply scanning an interoperable QR code. This helps the conversion of a cash-based economy to a digital economy. The integration of digital identity and payment systems also allows governments to efficiently distribute social benefits without leakages.
Data Sharing: It enables individuals or entities to verify the authenticity of certificates and licenses by scanning digitally signed QR codes for high-trust, tamper-proof personal data sharing. Furthermore, it facilitates real-time, consent-based data sharing between systems, thereby reducing the cost of services like lending. Data sharing also includes the creation of publicly accessible datasets for research and analytics available via open APIs.
Trust Infrastructure: This enables individuals to interact and transact without needing to be physically present or using paper, utilising digital signatures and public key infrastructure to ensure secure transactions.
Discovery and Fulfilment: This allows any product or service to be discovered and fulfilled across multiple applications, whether it's discovering a lawyer or a telemedicine provider and booking an appointment with them, choosing a mode of transport, or even searching and applying for scholarships.
Many different building blocks in each of these categories can drive exponential outcomes within and across various sectors.
...by creating ecosystems that combine: 1) the right technology architecture; supplemented by 2) governance frameworks that are transparent, accountable, participatory; and 3) robust public and private market innovation.
In each of the sections below, we'll cover specific building blocks that fall into these categories, and link to open blueprints/specifications your country can use to kick off the transformation.
We've also thought through some tech architecture principles and implementation/execution guidance that we hope are helpful!
Let's dive in.
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