Inclusion Strategies for Digital Public Infrastructure Development

Focus on Problems, Not Just Technology: Avoid the trap of "techno-optimism" This The World Bank report explores how digital technology can be used to address critical gaps in human capital, where billions lack access to essential health, education, and social protection services. It emphasizes that while technology offers significant promise for personalized learning, improved healthcare, and responsive social support, its potential has been limited by challenges such as the digital divide, fragmented systems, and insufficient attention to user needs. The report provides a strategic framework for policymakers, proposing actions to create a future where digital transformation enhances human potential. Key Actions for Policymakers: 🔌 Invest in Foundational Infrastructure and Skills for All: Strategic investments in reliable electricity, affordable internet, and widespread digital literacy are critical to building a digital society. Without these essentials, even the best digital services will fail to reach those who need them most, exacerbating the digital divide. 🔗 Build Shared Systems, Not Silos: Governments should shift from creating isolated, single-purpose applications to developing shared, interoperable digital platforms that offer services across sectors. This people-centered approach reduces costs and frustration, enabling integrated support in health, education, and social protection. 🤝 Harness Private Sector Innovation, Responsibly: Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) should be leveraged to accelerate digital infrastructure and service delivery. However, these collaborations must be governed by clear rules and shared values that protect the public interest and ensure sustainable business models. 🌍 Design for the Vulnerable and Manage Digital Risks: Systems must be designed to support vulnerable individuals during critical moments, such as job loss or illness, and to address the digital gender gap. A strong data governance framework is necessary to protect the vulnerable and build trust in digital systems. 🎯 Focus on Problems, Not Just Technology: Digital solutions should be adopted to solve specific human challenges rather than as an end in themselves. Moving beyond fragmented pilot projects to implement scalable, sustainable systems is essential to deliver value for people and jobs. source: https://lnkd.in/ehrdV-Un

🌍 “Edge Infrastructure for the Next Billion Users.” Let that sink in for a second... Because the next billion users won’t be in Silicon Valley. They’ll be in Lagos, Kigali, Kinshasa, Nairobi, Karamoja, Chad… Places where cloud infrastructure doesn’t reach, and connectivity costs more than daily wages. They don’t need faster iPhones. They need access—to services, to information, to opportunity. They need tech that works offline, affordably, and locally. That’s where Edge Infrastructure comes in. Not as a luxury. But as a lifeline. 📶 Powering smart Wi-Fi 🧠 Running AI models without internet 🍲 Managing orders in local cafés 📷 Enabling security in health centers 🎓 Hosting offline learning content for students This is not a “trend.” It’s the foundation for the future. It’s infrastructure for inclusion. The next billion users won’t wait for perfect conditions. They’ll build with what they have—and we're building with them. Let’s stop importing problems and calling them solutions. Let’s start deploying context-first infrastructure. 👇🏾 If you're building for the next billion, I want to connect. Let’s make the edge, our edge. #EdgeComputing #NextBillionUsers #DigitalInclusion #TechForAfrica #AIAtTheEdge #FutureOfInfrastructure #EdgeAfrica #DecentralizedTech #OfflineFirst #SmartInfrastructure

🚨Is Digital Public Infrastructure delivering on its promise? 🔺 When tech moves faster than trust, who gets left out? 🔺 #Digital rails are growing but are they inclusive by design? 🔺 Governments want scale, but is #governance keeping pace? 🔺 Without interoperability and oversight, DPI risks becoming another siloed system. The report by The World Bank Group outlines how DPI can be leveraged to drive meaningful, lasting change in both developed and developing nations. Understanding DPI 🔸Defining DPI ➝Foundational digital systems (ID, payments, data) ➝Shared infrastructure for all sectors 🔸DPI Ecosystem ➝Governance, standards, safeguards ➝Needs interoperability by design 🔸DPI and Development ➝Speeds service delivery ➝Drives inclusion and empowerment Building, Scaling, and Using DPI 🔸Design ➝Modular, interoperable, privacy-first ➝Varies by context: greenfield vs. add-on; central vs. sector-led ➝Led by key champions (e.g., ministries, central banks) ➝Entry points differ: India (ID-first), Estonia (data-sharing) 🔸Implementation Essentials ➝Begin with maturity assessments and diagnostics ➝Prioritize sectors and plan in sequence ➝Address legacy systems and resistance ➝Define public-private roles clearly ➝Reform legal and procurement frameworks ➝Build offline/decentralized solutions as needed ➝Leverage digital public goods and agile for cost efficiency 🔸Service Use Cases ➝Key areas: G2P, finance, agriculture, health, education ➝Zambia’s digital transfers cut fraud, raised efficiency ➝Context-driven sequencing: retrofit vs. greenfield ➝DPI drives innovation when tied to real services Key Lessons 🔸Safety and Inclusion First ➝Equity, security, and accessibility are non-negotiable. 🔸Focus on Outcomes, Not Technology ➝Impact matters more than tools, design for results. 🔸Users at the Center ➝Co-create with users, prototype, iterate, and refine. 🔸Invest in People ➝Build skills in government, civil society, and tech sectors. 🔸It Takes a Village to Build Good DPI ➝Needs collective effort across sectors and stakeholders. Forward Look #DPI must evolve with #technology, society, and risks. New forms like discoverability protocols are emerging. Continued learning, financing, and #globalcooperation are essential. Cecilia Emilsson | Felipe González-Zapata | Elsa Pilichowski | Carlos Santiso | Barbara Ubaldi | NSN Murty | Dr Ritesh Jain | Dipu KV | Dr. Kaiser H. Naseem | Camilla Bullock | Victor Yaromin | Emad Ayyash | Julian Gordon | Saleh ALhammad | Vikram Pandya | Sudin Baraokar | Prasanna Lohar | Future Transformation

What are the key actions governments might take to unleash the potential of digital technology to improve human development? 1. Strengthen Shared Digital Infrastructure     ◦ Reliable electricity in essential community locations, such as health care facilities and schools     ◦ Targeted subsidies and regulatory reforms to reduce mobile data costs to less than 2 percent of monthly income for low-income households.     ◦ Digital literacy programs for adults with varying educational backgrounds, (dis)abilities, and language preferences 2. Invest in Integrated Digital Services and Shared Systems     ◦ Interoperable platforms that provide economies of scale and inclusive access.     ◦ Core platforms to ensure the seamless exchange of data across government sectors     ◦ Digital ecosystems that recognize people's interconnected needs and economic roles, providing support organized around life events 3. Facilitate Responsible, Beneficial Private Sector Engagement     ◦ Legal framework that defines the parameters of digital economy partnerships, including governance structures, risk allocation, and responsibilities     ◦ Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to expand digital infrastructure     ◦ Modern regulatory framework that is technology-neutral, implementing streamlined licensing and using regulatory sandboxes to foster innovation.     ◦ Digital skills development for the civil service and the creation of specialized digital economy units. 4. Manage Digital Vulnerability Using Balanced Risk Approaches     ◦ Subsidies for connectivity and whitelisting essential online services (ensuring free access to critical government and health information).     ◦ Digital systems that respond rapidly to changing life circumstances (e.g., job loss or health crises) through coordinated support across agencies.     ◦ A governance framework with clear guidelines for data collection, sharing that protects sensititve health and financial data and builds trust among service providers and users, but remains adaptable to technological trends. A detailed discussion in the last The World Bank report: https://lnkd.in/eJrHFvpf

Five years ago, digital inclusion was about getting people online. Now? It’s about ensuring everyone can participate, engage, and succeed. That’s why we’re not just talking about digital inclusion anymore, we’re talking about digital participation. Digital participation is the new baseline. Being online is not enough, you need to be able to thrive online - you need the skills, confidence, and safety to use it to your advantage. The reality is: 🟢 1.6 million people are still offline, disconnected from opportunities. 🟢 12.8 million people struggle with low or very low digital skills – a significant challenge. Those with the lowest digital capabilities are: 🟢 Far less likely to manage finances online (6.7% vs. 100%). 🟢 Twice as likely to fall victim to scams (8.5% vs. 4.6%). Contrast this with the 14.2 million UK adults with the highest digital capabilities. They’re saving time, money, and engaging with the digital world seamlessly. That’s what digital participation unlocks. So how do we make this shift from inclusion to participation? Firstly you have to recognise that participation isn’t a destination, it’s a spectrum, and we have to meet people where they are. That means focusing on 4 key areas: 🟢 Access: Affordable channels, devices, and connectivity that fit people’s lives. 🟢 Confidence: Relevance, a clear call to action, and a growth mindset to empower people. 🟢 Skills: Awareness and application: giving people the tools to use the digital world effectively and safely. And perhaps most importantly. 🟢 Inclusive digital services: Accessible, available and usable services, that enable anyone can engage. Happily we’re seeing people embrace this vision with initiatives like digital driver’s licences and the relaunch of the GDS government services this week. These aren’t just technology upgrades, they’re tools for empowering people. I’d love to hear your thoughts: ➡️ Read the latest consumer digital index: https://lnkd.in/e6Kqut83 💬 Join the conversation by using & following these hashtags #ConsumerDigitalIndex #EssentialDigitalSkills 📧 Email: DigitalSkillsInclusion@lloydsbanking.com

From Silicon Valley to New Delhi: Building AI Without Borders Some rooms change how you think. This one changed how I build. The Consulate General of India’s initiative to bring together voices from large companies, startups and academia highlighted how inclusive policy and innovation can work hand in hand to ensure that India’s AI story is one of access and equity, not exclusion. At the Inclusive AI Roundtable Dinner co-hosted by the Consulate General of India (Sripal Reddy) and AI Kiran (lead by Kirthiga Reddy and Lakshmi Pratury INK Women) I sat among women who want to shape how India thinks about AI. Technology Leaders. Researchers. Founders. Innovators. That evening changed how I look at “inclusion.” It’s not just about who gets invited to use or talk about AI. It’s about who helps build it,  whose stories and faces are inside the data that trains it, and who uses it to drive value. Because if the data we feed AI doesn’t represent all kinds of people, the decisions it makes won’t either. As AI accelerates, the digital infrastructure, education, and opportunity must reach everyone - from rural innovators to urban researchers - so that the benefits of AI don’t widen the gap between the connected and disconnected. AI doesn’t invent bias, it learns it. And that means inclusion isn’t a social goal anymore, it’s a technical one. So here are 3 simple ways every builder, leader, or team can start making AI more inclusive right now: 1️⃣ Audit your data for representation, not just accuracy. If your dataset doesn’t show diversity, add it. Balance it. Question it. 2️⃣Design with inclusion from the start, not as an afterthought. Invite women, minority voices, domain experts, and community leaders while designing, not after launch. 3️⃣ Ask with intention; “how can I build it for everyone to use.” That question alone changes how products get shaped. Grateful to every woman who made that evening more than a discussion. Because the real promise of AI isn’t in what it automates — it’s in who it uplifts. Srikar Reddy Koppula Sripal Reddy Kirthiga Reddy Lakshmi Pratury Dr. Nipa Diwanji-Sheth Monica Bajaj Anjali Anagol-Subbarao Devleena Shivakumar Reena Gupta #ai #india #networking #community #data #innovation #diversity  

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐧-𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠? Because we measure access. We don’t measure economic participation. I just came back from Kenya. What I saw on the ground challenges the comfortable narrative that most of the tech world repeats. In one region, enrollment in vocational schools jumped sharply because digital skills became directly tied to income. In another, students with zero prior exposure were workforce-ready in six weeks, starting with data protection before productivity. The difference was not the hardware. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏. Infrastructure. Skills. Real applications. Protection. All four. Or it breaks. This article is not a theory. It is a field observation. If you work in tech, policy, AI, or impact investing, read it. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓? IAC.AI Huawei Olivier Gomez - OG Approved TECH4ALL https://lnkd.in/ecbRtrmW #DigitalInclusion #AI #Africa #TechForGood #EconomicDevelopment #MWC26 #TechCaresForum #AIforGood #EconomicParticipation #AfricaTech #DigitalEconomy #DigiTruck #OGapproved #IAC

Donor funding is not a strategy — it’s a bridge. This recent article did not come as a surprise: the Gates Foundation plans to end its support for global financial inclusion by 2030, explicitly stating it was never meant to be a permanent actor in the space.  https://lnkd.in/gWTp2W4p This isn’t a critique of donors. It’s a reminder to all of us building DPI and inclusion programs: If we don’t design self-sustaining national models, we risk replacing an “aid mentality” with a dependency mentality — and creating a system that optimizes for short-term KPIs, reports, and consulting cycles rather than long-term country outcomes.  What does “sustainable” look like in practice? 1. Treat DPI as national infrastructure (like roads): budgeted, governed, and continuously improved 2. Monetize value, not citizens: regulated eKYC, secure authentication, consented data exchange, transaction rails (small fees, big volume) 3. Build local operating capacity: reduce perpetual external reliance 4. Outcome-based procurement: adoption + uptime + unit economics (not large capital injection based on slideware) 5. PPP models with clear reinvestment into resilience, security, and inclusion Donor capital can catalyze. But countries must own the business model. #DigitalPublicInfrastructure #FinancialInclusion #GovTech #DigitalID #Payments #AidEffectiveness #PPP #DigitalTransformation