Universal Safeguards for Digital Public Infrastructure
As digital public infrastructure (DPI) becomes integral to society, governance and finance, we must collaboratively establish safeguards to ensure global protection of fundamental rights.
As digital public infrastructure (DPI) becomes integral to society, governance and finance, we must collaboratively establish safeguards to ensure global protection of fundamental rights.
Decisions by countries on how to design, build and sustain their DPI will have significant lasting consequences on their opportunity to drive inclusive growth, innovate with speed and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. As risks of exclusion and surveillance surface during large scale digital transformations, we must proactively declare, enshrine and embed universal safeguards for DPI design and implementations worldwide.
The Universal Safeguards for DPI initiative launched on September 17, 2023 is a critical milestone. It shows the commitment to protecting everyone, everywhere and our planet while accelerating the achievement of the SDGs. It unifies and builds upon the work done in this critical area by the ecosystem of experts and institutions globally.
Through a multi-stakeholder consultative co-creation process, this initiative seeks to develop a unified framework of universal safeguards that facilitates inclusive, safe and sustainable adoption of DPI across countries. It is envisioned that the framework will be available for consideration by Member States and other key societal actors in the context of the Global Digital Compact at the Summit of the Future in September 2024.
During the development of these universal DPI safeguards, this initiative together with partners will curate and nurture a live and emergent knowledge base of in-country experiences, lessons from failures and successes, existing principals, and prevalent methods and practices to facilitate safe and inclusive implementation and governance of DPI across countries. This will also inform updates to the frameworks over time.
Safeguards must not be perceived as rote compliance needs and mere obligations. They are essential to create societal trust and value while upholding human rights and enable inclusive social and economic progress of all, with speed, at scale, and sustainably.
Interested in contributing?
The Universal Safeguards for Digital Public Infrastructure will leverage the broader ecosystem’s efforts and experiences, by collaborating with lead practitioners, champions, advisors, experts, and community centred stakeholders to guide its direction.
Your active participation will enable countries to harness the immense potential of DPI and ensure a safe and inclusive digital future for all. To stay updated on future activities, use the button below to subscribe.