Page 46 - Building digital public infrastructure for cities and communities

This section discusses enabling policies and institutional foundations necessary for the successful
implementation of DPI at city level, offering guidance for policy makers and relevant practitioners,
and addressing the interplay between national and municipal regulations in the digital domain,
and the necessary links between cities and national/federal policies to ensure maximum synergies,
ensure coherence and avoid duplication of efforts.

6.1 Whole-of-government approach

To ensure coherence, efficiency and long-term sustainability of DPI, a Whole-of-Government
approach (WGA) is essential. This approach promotes coordinated policy design, implementation
and oversight across all levels and sectors of government, moving beyond fragmented or siloed
efforts (Christensen & Lægreid, 2007; Aoki et al., 2024). Rather than managing DPI as a standalone
project, it must be embedded into broader governance strategies, aligned with national digital
transformation agendas, local service delivery mandates and overarching policy goals such as
climate resilience, health, education and inclusive economic growth.

Policymakers should establish institutional coordination mechanisms such as inter-ministerial
digital task forces, cross-sectoral digital governance boards and digital leadership units. These
structures should include representatives from national, regional and municipal levels to ensure
alignment across jurisdictions. Such mechanisms are critical for harmonizing digital standards,
avoiding duplication and enabling interoperable data systems and services that reinforce one
another (UNDP, 2023).

A whole-of-government model also enables shared investments in foundational infrastructure such
as cloud services, digital identity systems and open data repositories, lowering costs, reducing
redundancies and enhancing scalability (World Bank, 2025). Most importantly, it fosters cross-
sectoral digital capacity, shared accountability and alignment between technical innovation and
public value delivery – ensuring that DPI serves as a resilient and inclusive enabler of sustainable
development.

6.2 Governance models for sustainable DPI

As cities rapidly adopt digital technologies to modernize governance and public services, DPI has
become a vital enabler of inclusive, efficient and trusted service delivery (OECD, 2024). Yet the
mere existence of digital tools is not enough. Without effective governance, DPI risks becoming
fragmented, under-utilized, or even harmful, hence potentially undermining public trust and
long-term sustainability (Eaves et al., 2025). For policymakers, this subsection serves as a guide
to understanding and designing sustainable DPI governance models, ones that are institutionally
embedded, legally robust, transparent and aligned with the long-term interests of citizens.

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