This paper examines the evolution of the concept of “digital public infrastructure”, tracing a history from an initial phase of openness through the phase of global popularization to a current phase of localization.
Written by Open Future’s fellow Mila T Samdub, the paper is part of a comparative study of “Digital Public Infrastructure” aiming to produce a typology of the definitions and motivations attached to DPIs worldwide. It highlights the consolidation of a dominant model based on digital identity, payments and data exchanges driven by a coalition of funders, policymakers, and technology stakeholders. Today, as the scope of digital public infrastructure expands, it is moving beyond this dominant model.
The paper identifies three key phases of DPI Development:
- Openness (2012-2020): The term “digital public infrastructure” emerged organically in discussions around open data, deliberative democracy, and public digital goods. Various interpretations coexisted without a standardized framework.
- Consolidation (2020-2024): A dominant model took shape, largely influenced by the Indian experience of digital identity, payments, data exchanges. Multilateral organizations, funders, and governments promoted digital public infrastructure (now referred to using the acronym DPI) through expert recommendations, repositories, and broad consensus definitions, leading to widespread adoption.
- Localization (2024-Present): As digital public infrastructure spreads globally, local adaptations and new interpretations emerge. These range from digital commons, to digital public infrastructures’ role in industrial policy to its relation with Artificial Intelligence.
Based on this genealogy of digital public infrastructure, the paper calls for a shift from the dominant technocratic, state-led, one-size-fits-all conception of the term to one that is guided by national, regional, and local motivations.
It proposes an expanded conception of digital public infrastructure that focuses not only on software and governance but also on hardware and social infrastructures, which are the necessary conditions for successful technological rollouts. It also pushes for an open, democratic conversation about the multiple goals that digital public infrastructures can fulfill.
Digital public infrastructure is at a turning point. While it has gained global traction, its future depends on how it is shaped by regional priorities, governance models, and technological choices. A follow-up study, based on interviews in India, Brazil, the US and Europe, will further investigate these dynamics and propose a framework for making sense of digital public infrastructure in diverse contexts.
The paper contributes to Open Future’s work on Public Digital Infrastructure, which aims to foster an ecosystem where Digital Commons and digital public spaces can emerge and thrive.
