There is global recognition of the role of digital technologies in driving development and societal outcomes. In particular, digital public infrastructure (DPI) are being studied for their ability to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), giving low and middle-income countries a chance to converge swiftly to higher levels of development. This potential is well-illustrated in India, where DPI like Aadhar and United Payments Interface (UPI) have dramatically accelerated financial inclusion and created a foundation for the private sector to catalyse and innovate upon.

The Global Digital Compact and the 50-in-5 initiative embody the growing global consensus around digital public infrastructures (DPI) potential for setting countries on equitable development trajectories. Realising that potential requires building DPI the right way. Adequate capacity within government to design, implement and sustain DPI-enabled digital transformation is often the deciding factor here. Its absence can lead to ineffective DPI which is more expensive, less effective and unsustainable – and worse, neither safe nor inclusive.

Artha Global and eGovernments Foundation have collaborated to set up the DPI Academy for bridging this crucial strategic governance capacity gap. By building capacity and catalysing communities of practice in government and other relevant stakeholders, the Academy aims to equip them with the capabilities they need to drive successful DPI initiatives. This is the first step in a larger vision. We see the Academy as the first in a global network of such knowledge and capacity-building hubs established by 2029 – because responsible DPI built with safeguards is a global need.

About Artha Global

Artha Global is a globally networked policy consulting organization that partners with governments, multilateral agencies, philanthropies, and the private sector to address systemic challenges that hinder people’s aspirations for shared prosperity and opportunity.

Our north star is prosperity—or artha in Sanskrit—achieved through the kind of sustained economic growth that has lifted millions out of poverty across Asia and Central/Eastern Europe. Importantly, the concept of artha extends beyond material wealth, encompassing the legal, societal, environmental, and institutional conditions essential for individuals and communities to flourish.

About eGov Foundation

eGov Foundation is a philanthropic mission that exists to improve the ease of living for citizens. Its focus areas are urban, health, sanitation and public finance management. Its mission is to make sure that everyone can access services from their local governments with ease and transparency. Its core offering is DIGIT (Digital Infrastructure for Governance, Impact and Transformation), which is a digital public good. In other words, it is an open, interoperable free-to-use platform that offers solutions for citizens, first-mile employees, administrators, commercial players and policymakers. It is made available to the federal government, states & cities for them to create programs and solutions for their contexts, in keeping with the federal structure of urban governance in India. DIGIT is also offered to commercial players so that they can leverage it to build solutions and deliver programs working with governments. In run-time, this translates into states, cities and commercial players using the building blocks from DIGIT to tailor solutions and programs that meet their needs and innovating on top of it to solve emerging problems. Over the last 20 years, eGov Foundation has partnered with more than 10 countries, 2600 towns and cities in 16 states across India, and more than 160 million citizens have benefited from its platform.