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    Digital public infrastructure and digital public goodsDPI

    Also called: DPI, DPG, digital public goods, digital public infrastructure.

    Detail

    In five seconds

    What it is

    Shared digital building blocks and reusable digital tools that help countries deliver public services, especially when they are designed for broad access and interoperability.

    In plain words

    Think of DPI as the shared digital foundations that many public services use, and DPGs as reusable digital parts that can help build those foundations.

    An everyday example

    A town runs many bus routes, but they all depend on the same road network, bus stops, ticket readers and timetable system. Those shared basics let many routes operate together, even when different companies or districts are involved. Now imagine that several towns also share a set of well-documented ticket-reader designs and timetable software that any town can adapt without starting from zero. The first set is like digital public infrastructure; the second set is like digital public goods that can help build or improve it.

    Where the story stops working

    Public digital systems are not as simple as roads and bus parts. DPI involves law, rights, privacy, cybersecurity, procurement, accountability and long-term governance. Also, not every reusable digital tool qualifies as a digital public good, and a public digital system can exist even if it was not built from open components.

    Remember thisDigital public infrastructure consists of shared systems that support many services. Digital public goods are reusable assets that may help build those systems, but neither term guarantees good governance.

    This term is contested

    The broad idea is widely used, but the exact criteria for what should count as a digital public good, and sometimes the scope of digital public infrastructure, are not fully settled across all organisations and policy forums.

    Understand it

    Understand it

    Why it matters

    These terms matter because they shape real choices about how digital services are built, funded and governed. If people mix them up, they may buy a single app when they really need shared infrastructure, or they may assume that using open tools automatically solves questions about privacy, accountability, inclusion or sustainability. For policy and programme staff, the distinction helps in conversations about procurement, standards, long-term maintenance, vendor dependence, national ownership and cross-border cooperation. It also matters in AI discussions, because AI tools may be added to public digital systems, but the public-interest questions remain broader than the model itself.

    How digital public goods relate to digital public infrastructure

    Show the difference between reusable digital components and the public digital systems built or operated with them.

    1. 01

      DPGs: reusable components

      Show examples such as open-source software, open standards, open data, open content and some open AI models. Emphasise that these are things others can reuse or adapt under defined conditions.

      Render five stacked cards in the left column with simple icons: code brackets, ruler, database, document, network nodes. Add a small caption: 'Reusable tools and resources'.

    2. 02

      DPI: service foundations

      Show examples such as digital identity, payments, data exchange and messaging layers used across multiple public services.

      Render four stacked cards in the right column with icons: ID card, payment symbol, linked arrows, message bubble. Add a caption: 'Shared systems used by many services'.

    3. 03

      How they connect

      Draw arrows from selected DPG cards to selected DPI cards to show that digital public goods can help build, improve or maintain digital public infrastructure.

      Use curved arrows from 'open-source software' and 'open standards' to all four DPI cards, and from 'open data' to data exchange only. Keep arrows thin and directional.

    4. 04

      What they are not

      Add a footer note that DPI is not the same as any one app, and DPG is not the same as any open project. Governance, rights protection and fitness for public use still matter.

      Place a full-width note box at the bottom with two short bullets and a muted warning icon.

    A two-column comparison. The left column lists reusable building blocks labelled DPGs. The right column lists public service layers labelled DPI. Arrows show that some DPGs can feed into DPI, but the columns do not fully overlap. A note at the bottom says AI may appear in either column, or neither.

    Hover or tap any card to show a one-sentence definition and one example. A toggle labelled 'Show AI examples' adds one optional card in each column to illustrate that AI can be part of either, but neither term means AI by default.

    Describe this without the diagram

    This diagram compares two related ideas. On the left are digital public goods: reusable components such as open-source software, open standards, open data, open content and, in some cases, open AI models. On the right are digital public infrastructure layers: digital identity, payments, data exchange and messaging systems used across many public services. Arrows from some left-side items to the right-side items show that digital public goods can be used to build or improve digital public infrastructure. A note at the bottom says the two terms overlap in practice but are not the same: reusable tools are not identical to public service infrastructure, and good governance is still required.

    With reduced motion: A static side-by-side comparison with fixed arrows from reusable components on the left to infrastructure layers on the right, plus a text note explaining that AI may appear in either column or neither.

    These terms are related, but they are not the same. Digital public infrastructure, or DPI, usually means basic digital systems that many services can rely on, such as digital identity, payments, data exchange or messaging layers. Digital public goods, or DPGs, are reusable resources in open categories, such as open-source software, open standards, open data, open AI models or open content, that also meet public-interest criteria.

    A simple way to separate them is this: DPI is the service foundation, while DPGs are reusable components that may help build or improve it. A digital identity system or payment rail may be DPI. Open-source software or an open standard may qualify as a DPG used to build it. An international standard is a document agreed by a recognised standards body. It is not DPI merely because a public system uses it.

    What goes in? Policy choices, funding, technical design, governance rules, security measures, and sometimes shared digital components. What happens? Organisations build or connect systems so different services can work together. Interoperability means different systems can exchange and use information in a compatible way. What comes out? Public services that can be faster, more connected and easier to scale, if they are well governed.

    These terms are often discussed with AI because AI systems may sit on top of public digital systems or be distributed as reusable digital tools. But DPI and DPG do not mean AI. A country can have DPI without using AI, and not every open-source AI model is a digital public good. It must also meet the applicable DPG criteria. Those criteria should be stated because different forums may apply them differently.

    How “A town transport system and shared spare parts” maps onto the real thing

    In the storyIn the AI system
    Road network, bus stops and ticket readers used across many routesCore digital systems used across many public services, such as identity, payments or data exchange
    Shared timetable software and documented equipment designsReusable digital public goods such as open-source software and open standards
    Different routes working together because they use the same basicsInteroperability across public services and institutions
    A town adapting shared designs to local needsCountries or organisations reusing and localising DPGs

    A worked example

    A programme officer in a regional bureau is reviewing, before close of business, a concept note for support to a national counterpart developing an integrated public-benefits service.

    Starting from: The proposal combines a shared identity-verification service, a payment system and a consent-based data-exchange mechanism with open-source case-management software and a documented open standard.

    1. The officer identifies the identity, payment and data-exchange mechanisms as shared systems intended to support several public services, not only the proposed benefits service.
    2. The open-source software and open standard are assessed separately as reusable assets, including their licensing, documentation, maintainability and scope for local adaptation.
    3. The concept note explains how the reusable assets could connect to the shared systems without making the whole infrastructure automatically open-source.
    4. The results framework includes interoperability, accessibility, security, data protection and institutional capacity, rather than counting software deployment alone as success.

    Result: The cleared concept note distinguishes the shared infrastructure from the reusable digital goods that may help build or connect to it. It also avoids implying that either label, by itself, settles questions of governance, inclusion, privacy or long-term maintenance.

    In a United Nations workplace

    At 4 p.m. in a liaison office, the statistician is asked to prepare the next morning's talking points for informal consultations on draft language about digital public infrastructure and digital public goods.

    She separates population-scale identity, payment and data-exchange systems from open standards and reusable software that could help implement them. The distinction keeps the talking points precise when delegations ask whether openness, interoperability or national scale is being claimed.

    Before you try thisNo household or identity records are needed for this analysis. Registry extracts, personal data and system credentials must not be copied into an external drafting tool or any platform not approved for them, since doing so could expose individuals and compromise public systems.

    Where you may hear it

    • Informal consultations on draft General Assembly language about digital cooperation
    • Clearance of a country office concept note on digital public services
    • An ICT governance board reviewing interoperability requirements
    • A procurement unit's vendor demonstration of a reusable public-service platform
    • An inter-agency working group reviewing support for national digital systems

    Avoid confusion

    Avoid confusion

    Often confused with

    Common misconceptions

    • DPI and DPG are just two names for the same thing.

      They are closely related but not identical. DPI usually refers to the shared digital systems that many public services depend on. DPG usually refers to reusable digital resources, often openly licensed or openly governed, that can help build or improve those systems.

    • If software is open source, it automatically counts as a digital public good.

      Open source is important, but it is not the whole test. In many policy discussions, a digital public good is expected to show public benefit, usable documentation, and attention to issues such as privacy, inclusion or harm reduction. Different organisations may apply somewhat different criteria.

    • Building DPI is mainly a technical project.

      Technical design matters, but public infrastructure also depends on law, governance, financing, accountability, accessibility, cybersecurity and human rights protections. A technically strong system can still fail the public if these parts are weak.

    Quick check

    Which statement best captures the relationship between digital public infrastructure and digital public goods?

    Go deeper

    Go deeper

    The simple version

    Think of DPI as the shared digital foundations that many public services use, and DPGs as reusable digital parts that can help build those foundations.

    The technical version

    Digital public infrastructure commonly refers to foundational, population-scale or economy-wide digital systems that support multiple public or public-interest services, such as identity, payments, registries, consent or data exchange mechanisms. Digital public goods commonly refers to reusable digital assets, often including open-source software, open standards, open data, open content and sometimes open AI models, that are intended for broad public benefit and reuse. The relationship is functional, not identical: DPGs can be inputs into DPI, but DPI also depends on institutional arrangements, legal authority, governance, financing, operations, security controls and lifecycle management. The exact boundary of what qualifies as a DPG is not fully settled across all actors, so it is better to state the criteria being used rather than assume universal agreement.

    Reviewed external resources

    Where this came from

    Drafted with a language model through an offline pipeline, checked against this site's schema, and every external link above fetched to see whether it answers. Treat it as a starting point and check anything that matters against the primary sources. How this site is built and what that means.

    The one thing to remember

    Digital public infrastructure consists of shared systems that support many services. Digital public goods are reusable assets that may help build those systems, but neither term guarantees good governance.