DPI 50 spotlights leaders shaping next phase of digital public infrastructure

Public learning platform Apolitical, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Future Council on GovTech and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), has published its inaugural 2026 DPI 50 list, recognizing public sector leaders working to develop and implement digital public infrastructure.

The list highlights not only the development of identity, payments and other foundational infrastructure, but also efforts to make those systems more inclusive and useful in delivering public services.

The inaugural DPI 50 was released on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York and recognizes leaders working across both foundational and frontier DPI.

Apolitical describes DPI as shared digital foundations that help governments overcome fragmented systems and deliver more accessible, reliable, and trustworthy services. The list was put together through a process that included desk research, nominations from its learning partners, and its communities of more than half a million public servants.

Once nominated, the candidates were assessed in three rounds, including scoring by 15 members of the WEF Council and Apolitical’s executive team. Those listed scored high in DPI delivery and innovation, measurable impact and potential scale, as well as trust, safety, and inclusion of the systems they helped build.

Africa showing strong DPI leadership

Twelve African public officials are included for their roles in building or expanding digital identity and other DPI systems.

Two are from Ethiopia, among them Yodahe Zemichael, Executive Director of Ethiopia’s National ID Program (NIDP), who runs Fayda, one of the biggest identity programs in Africa today. Fayda now has more than 51 million people enrolled.

Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) CEO, Abisoye Coker-Odusote, is one of two Nigerians on the list. She is recognized for expanding and decentralizing National Identification Number (NIN) enrollment and extending access to the identity system. Over 142 million NINs have so far been issued, with a recent directive from the country’s president to reach 95 percent coverage by December.

The list also includes officials from Somalia, which is building a digital ID system after several years of conflict, and Kenya, where Principal Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy John Kipchumba Tanui has helped oversee expansion of the eCitizen platform, which today hosts more than 20,000 public services.

Officials representing Benin, which has high digital government ambitions, South Africa with its MyMzansi DPI roadmap, Tanzania’s JamiiStack, Uganda’s brownfield MOSIP-based digital ID implementation, and Rwanda with its digital government expertise through Irembo, are also on the list.

Malik says inclusion should remain the measure

Elsewhere, World Bank and ID4D expert Tariq Malik is among those recognized, alongside leaders from India, Europe, Latin America, and international development institutions.

The former Chairman of Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has worked on DPI programs in several countries, including Malawi, where he served as chief technical advisor. The country now has 99 percent ID coverage with over 13.5 million people enrolled.

Malik tells Biometric Update that recognition like the DPI 50 matters if it challenges those building the systems to raise their ambitions around inclusion. For him, the measure of DPI is not the elegance of the architecture or the size of the database. It is whether a woman can prove who she is without depending on a man, a bureaucrat, a broker or a middleman.

“When I returned to NADRA in 2021, I found divorced women struggling simply to remove an ex-husband’s name from their identity cards. We addressed the algorithmic bias so women could choose their own last name, as no law prevented them from doing so. We sent female registration officers on bikes to register women in their homes. In two years, we registered almost 7 million new women. None of that needed new technology. It needed us to look at the system through the eyes of the people it was failing,” Malik recalls.

“I accept this recognition on behalf of the registrars, field staff and engineers in Pakistan, Malawi and elsewhere who did that work. Lists like this matter if they raise the bar. I hope this one pushes all of us to ask harder questions about who our systems still leave out.”

Biometric Update will publish a longer interview with Malik next week on the next phase of DPI, including governance, redress and lessons for countries building and exporting digital infrastructure.

Article Topics

Africa  |  Apolitical  |  digital public infrastructure  |  DPI 50  |  Tariq Malik