Page 57 - Building digital public infrastructure for cities and communities

To be effective, a DPI strategy must operate at the intersection of national policy objectives
and local implementation needs. It should reflect context-specific priorities while maintaining
alignment with broader governmental goals. Early-stage stakeholder engagement, comprehensive
privacy assessments and transparent institutional design are critical to cultivating public trust and
democratic legitimacy (Van der Hoogen et al., 2024).

Governments should begin by conducting a DPI readiness assessment to map existing digital
assets, institutional capacities and stakeholder needs. They should then develop a multistakeholder
roadmap through inclusive collaboration with public agencies, civil society, technical experts and
the private sector. They should also: adopt open standards and modular design principles to ensure
scalability, interoperability and adaptability; institutionalize capacity-building by investing in the
digital skills of public servants and communities; and align the overall strategy with the SDGs and
broader national or municipal development priorities.

8.2 Invest in inclusive, scalable and interoperable infrastructure

Essential components of DPI must be designed as interoperable “building blocks” that function
across sectors and administrative levels. Open-source DPGs offer a strategic avenue to achieve
scalability, cost-efficiency and digital sovereignty, while also mitigating the risks of vendor lock-in
(UNDP, 2022). These foundational elements not only enable flexible integration but also serve as
critical enablers of innovation in public service delivery.

Research by the World Bank highlights DPI’s role in enhancing systemic resilience, particularly during
crises (World Bank, 2025). As such, investment strategies should prioritize the development of core
digital infrastructures built upon open standards and modular architectures. These components not
only ensure technical flexibility and future-proofing but also facilitate the replication and localization
of digital solutions in diverse governance contexts.

Effective DPI must embody the principles of openness, modularity and architectural resilience.
Publicly backed digital payment systems can rapidly achieve mass adoption when deployed within
coherent, standards-based frameworks. However, these successes also underscore the importance
of long-term financial and institutional sustainability. A forward-looking DPI investment strategy
must explicitly account for inclusion, accessibility and resilience. This entails developing multilingual
interfaces and offline capabilities to accommodate diverse user environments and connectivity
levels. It also requires sustained funding for ongoing system maintenance, cybersecurity audits
and iterative service upgrades.

To ensure universal and equitable access, policymakers should direct investments toward affordable
connectivity solutions and widespread device availability. Adopting open standards and APIs can
help prevent vendor lock-in and promote seamless interoperability across key sectors, including
health, education and social protection.

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