AUGUST 2024
Approaches to Digital
Public Infrastructure
in the Global South
An Overview of India, Ukraine, Brazil, and Zambia
Romina Bandura, Madeleine McLean, and Caroline Smutny
Introduction
Digital technologies dene a modern economy by allowing companies, governments, and citizens to
connect, transact, and gain access to goods and services. Within a country’s digital ecosystem, digital public
infrastructure (DPI) enables citizens to interact with governments and to pursue economic opportunities.
As outlined by the United Nations Development Programme, if DPI is applied to the nancial sector it could
accelerate the economic growth of Global South countries by 20–33 percent by 2030.
While not a new concept, the term DPI gained prominence during India’s 2023 Group of 20
(G20) presidency, and is dened as “as a set of shared digital systems that should be secure and
interoperable, that can be built on open standards and promote access to services for all, with
governance and community as core components of DPI.” A country’s DPI encompasses components
such as a digital ID, a payment system, and a data exchange platform. Despite a common denition,
there is no universal operating standard or model for DPI, and as such, countries are developing the
concept in dierent ways to t their own needs.
This paper describes how some countries in the Global South are approaching DPI by examining the
positive elements and challenges facing each approach. As leaders in their respective regions, this paper
highlights the DPI cases of India, Ukraine, Brazil, and Zambia, emphasizing dierent aspects of their
approaches. As countries develop their digital ecosystems, these four case studies can provide guidance
in moving forward and give both citizens and their governments a better understanding of the impacts
that this infrastructure can have on their lives.
