50-in-5 members share DPI best practices as efforts advance in Brazil, Sri Lanka

Some countries participating in the 50-in-5 campaign that seeks to help countries of the Global South establish inclusive, safe and interoperable digital public infrastructure (DPI) by 2030, met recently to share their knowledge and best practices on the subject matter.

In their conversation, they agreed that using open-source software is the best possible approach towards attaining their set goals as it sets the template for a flexible system can be recast in the future to address arising needs.

These discussions happened recently during a virtual event organized by the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA) which supports the 50-in-5 initiative launched last November.

According to a blog article that presents an account of the webinar, the countries shared their thoughts under six major areas and recognized the importance of adopting digital public goods (DPG) and open-source technologies to reach their targets.

In the course of the exchange, it emerged that one of the things the countries are doing is to identify and build the capacity of their internal teams working on DPI projects, with countries such as Cambodia, Estonia and Ethiopia sharing their stories on this, per the article.

One important aspect to make clear while determining priority in developing DPI is to draw a line that distinguishes foundational DPI and other systems, while also putting in place a system that enhances skills and strengthens capacity in the use of open-source software and hardware.

Having adaptable procurement policies that reflect a project’s rudimentary needs, developing an “open-source first” policy, and having a design template that underpins security by default and other security and safety best practices were mentioned as some of the other key issues to consider when developing DPI.

The 50-in-5 campaigns operates with the understands that various countries seeking to build DPI have problems that are generally common among them, thus the need to work together, share individual best practices and experiences in order to accompany one another on the journey to building systems that enable seamless access to public and private sector services.

With 11 first-mover countries at the time of its launch, the membership of the campaign has been growing with Zambia being the latest country to join last month.

Sri Lanka’s DPI efforts move towards stronger engagement

In a DPI related story, stakeholders also recently met in Sri Lanka to discuss how to better support the development of the country’s DPI ecosystem.

Meeting in the capital Colombo during a donor engagement dialogue, attendees emphasized the need for stronger collaboration from various concerned parties in the building of a system that will help the country meet its Sustainable Development Goals easily, according to a press release from UNDP Sri Lanka.

Partnering with the Sri Lankan government on the DPI project are the Gates Foundation, UNDP, the World Bank, Citra Lab and Connect to Care, among others.

DPI part of Brazil’s digital government strategy

Meanwhile, Brazil which is one of the first-mover countries of the 50-in-5 campaign, late last month, announced a national digital government strategy to cover the period 2024-2027.

A presidential decree signed on June 21 provides for the national digital government strategy and a national digital government network.

The text sets out the strategy for the digital transformation of the country’s public administration at all levels and mentions the development of DPI as a key component of the digital government undertaking.

DPI, according to the decree, will be built for the public interest following the principles of universality and interoperability, ensure secure data sharing and sustainability, and facilitate the integration of services and use cases across physical and digital channels.

In the meantime, a DPI mapping project was recently launched by the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.

It is a map that gauges the state of DPI implementation around the world. The brains behind it say it also intends to strengthen the understanding of DPI and to help countries build inclusive and safe infrastructure.

Article Topics

50-in-5  |  Brazil  |  digital identity  |  digital public infrastructure  |  interoperability  |  open source  |  Sri Lanka  |  UNDP