During the High-Level Week of the 80th UN General Assembly and as part of the first UN Digital Cooperation Day, the DPI Safeguards initiative convened more than 200 voices from across the digital public infrastructure (DPI) ecosystem to showcase progress on the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework. From country showcases to the announcement of new tools and research grants, the discussions highlighted the importance of DPI safeguards as the foundation of equitable access for all and brought to the fore actionable insights to advance impactful DPI adoption and implementation.
The Global Digital Compact reinforces the political and financial backing for DPI, with UN Member States committing to scale up investments, establish safeguards, and share best practices.
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Safeguards are the heartbeat of DPI, and are paramount for ensuring that digital transformation at scale empowers and delivers benefits for everyone. This message resonated in country showcases from Brazil, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa, where emerging lessons and insights have been demonstrating how inclusive design and multi-stakeholder collaboration can unlock creative solutions that are adaptable to local contexts. During the event, Brazil and South Africa committed to adopting the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework (view theirs and other commitment letters here).
The milestone event marked one year since the public release of the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework, which is a public asset that offers practical, rights-based guidance to address the governance, design and deployment of inclusive and safe DPI. The second iteration of the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework (2.0) was developed over the past year, drawing on the learnings, experiences and feedback from consultations with various actors across the ecosystem.
Safeguards are the foundation of equitable access, crucial for breaking down barriers like language, literacy and socioeconomic status to ensure that marginalized groups - such as rural farmers, Indigenous communities and women - are fully included in DPI benefits. This was the common message that emerged from a multistakeholder panel on investing in DPI, which emphasized how investing in safeguards can deliver efficiency gains by reducing costs and administrative friction for governments and citizens alike.
In line with the growing demand for research and evidence to guide safe and inclusive DPI adoption, the event concluded with the announcement of eight new research grants of up to USD 40,000 each, awarded by the DPI Insights Community. This community is made up of a global network of researchers, academics, private sector actors and policymakers and is led by the Center for Financial Inclusion. These grants were awarded to six finalists from diverse country contexts who are pioneering research in the fields of consumer trust and protection, governance, financial systems and inclusion, equity, and empowerment, among others.
This segment, co-hosted with the Center for Financial Inclusion, presents the first round of research grants form the DPI Insight Community.
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