DPI Safeguards Accelerator application are open
More than 100 countries are advancing some form of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), from national identity systems to payment and data exchange platforms. These large-scale systems offer major benefits, but they can also pose risks for billions of people.
For DPI to deliver meaningful and equitable economic change, it must be built with strong safeguards and designed intentionally to include everyone. Safeguards are not static compliance checklists; they are active operational practices that mitigate safety, inclusion and sustainability/institutional risks. They ensure that technology empowers rather than excludes, by breaking down barriers of language, literacy and access; building people’s trust to drive adoption at scale; minimizing systemic friction; and aligning diverse stakeholders around localized innovation.
As foundational DPI layers mature, they evolve into sectoral use cases (such as digital health services and social protection registries), cross-border interoperability systems, or AI-enabled public and private service interfaces. Well-governed DPI enables institutions to detect structural errors early, clarify legal accountability, and respond promptly when automated or agentic AI systems affect human lives. When DPI lacks effective safeguards, it can increase exclusion, reduce transparency, and weaken accountability, with consequences for millions of people.
While the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework defines what safe and inclusive digital infrastructure looks like, the Accelerator is the engine that drives local execution. It bridges the gap between global framework on safeguards and country-level realities by providing the practical tools, targeted expertise, and catalytic resources needed to embed safeguards directly into live national DPI deployments.
The 2026–2028 Crucial Window: As the DPI Safeguards Initiative’s two-year programmatic recap brief highlights, country momentum has shifted from treating safeguards as an afterthought to recognizing them as a non-negotiable structural requirement. With implementations transitioning from pilots to population-scale rollouts, partners must embed practical safeguards into live code, design, deployment, governance, operations, and national policy now, or risk legacy institutional failure as these systems scale. This 24-month window is critical to future-proof current implementations, safely support downstream or AI applications and act as a guide to future countries who are implementing or scaling DPI.
The DPI Safeguards Accelerator is a cohort-based programme arm of the DPI Safeguards Initiative a global multi-stakeholder effort dedicated to building, maintaining, and evolving the universal framework while supporting countries to adopt these practices through an ecosystem-led delivery model. The Accelerator is being launched in collaboration with 50-in-5, Open Government Partnership (OGP), and Co-Develop.
Note: As the Accelerator programme matures, subsequent cohorts may expand to include dedicated tracks for private sector actors, tech vendors, and social innovation organizations and startups to institutionalize "Safeguards-by-Design" across commercial delivery models.
The DPI Safeguards Accelerator utilizes two distinct administrative tracks to accommodate differing fiduciary and institutional frameworks.
While each pathway utilizes a dedicated application form and administrative process to match institutional requirements, selected partners will fully collaborate within the same unified Safeguards Accelerator cohort—fostering shared learning and collective cross-regional expertise.
The Accelerator seeks high-impact, operationally viable proposals from eligible partners who are positioned to deliver concrete, system-level and/or issue-specific safeguards within an active national DPI rollout. We are looking for applications that clearly demonstrate three core attributes:
Depending on the maturity and immediate needs of your country context, your application should target definite deliverables under one of two entry points:
Examples may include:
Examples may include:
While these examples provide a structured foundation, they are not exhaustive. The Accelerator actively encourages teams to apply the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework creatively to match their unique country contexts. Ultimately, the project’s success lies in its execution: selected teams must orchestrate genuine multi-stakeholder ownership, ensuring designed guardrails are woven directly into active national regulatory workflows, engineering backlogs, and public oversight mechanisms.
The DPI Safeguards Accelerator provides a collaborative, cohort-based model built around four integrated pillars of support. This framework is designed to help participants translate high-level principles into live operational tools, workflows, institutional roles, and multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms through:
• Practical Resources: Access to ready-to-use tools, risk-mapping methodologies, and 300+ practices within the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework. This includes dedicated advisory hours to support in adapting them directly into national workflows, institutional roles, and technical roadmaps.
• Ecosystem Expertise: Target-driven technical sprints, specialized capacity-building curricula, and connections with global digital public infrastructure experts.
• Access to Community: Structured peer-to-peer knowledge streams, office hours, cohort learning sessions, and access to an international network of digital governance practitioners.
• Financial Support: Catalytic implementation grants of up to USD 70,000 to support and accelerate safeguards mobilization within active deployments.
Non-Funded Participation Track: Organizations or UN Country Teams possessing independent project financing to advance safeguards are highly encouraged to apply for a non-funded slot. This track allows selected teams to participate without seeking Accelerator funding, while still accessing peer learning, advisory support, and relevant networks. Participation remains subject to selection and programme capacity.
The first step is a concise online submission. At this stage, applicants do not need to submit a full proposal, granular activity breakdowns, or detailed project documentation.
The Stage 1 form strictly requests high-level operational context regarding:
• Your organization, target country context, and the ongoing DPI rollout.
• The specific government counterpart agency you are collaborating with.
• The chosen track focus (System-Level Work or Issue-Specific Work).
• Why this specific deployment moment is critical to advance safeguards.
• Expected tangible outputs from the 6–9 month Accelerator cycle.
• The coordination model showing how your team, the government counterpart, and local civil society or affected user groups will actively collaborate.
• An indicative budget range and expected project duration.
To maximize preparation time for the next phase, Stage 1 applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis across three successive waves. Early submissions are highly encouraged:
Applicants whose Stage 1 submissions pass the initial screening will be longlisted and formally invited on a rolling basis to submit a detailed project proposal by Aug 15, 2026.
The Stage 2 submission requires:
• Granular project activity breakdowns and finalized budget allocations.
• Organizational profiles and verified proof of legal status (for NGO pathway applicants).
• Written Government Support: Formal, written institutional confirmation—such as a commitment letter signed by the head of the collaborating government authority—indicating explicit support for the proposed safeguards intervention and a willingness to participate in the cohort.
Please note: Advancement to stage 2 or shortlisting does not guarantee funding. Final awards remain strictly subject to the successful completion of standard programmatic, administrative, and fiduciary clearances.
June 15, 2026
June 30, 2026
July 15, 2026
July 30, 2026
Aug 15, 2026
Aug 31 - Sept 15, 2026
Sept 15, 2026 onwards
6–9 months from agreement finalization
Official Launch & Call for Applications
Wave 2 Review Cut-off
Wave 3 Final Application Deadline
Detailed Proposals Due (Longlisted Teams)
Shortlist Notification
Fiduciary Due Diligence & Grant Finalization
Accelerator Action Cycle
