DPI enables global collaboration on shared challenges without countries having to surrender autonomy. It can also act as a secondary channel for diplomacy.
As advocated by the UN’s Global Digital Compact, international collaboration on and through DPI involves interoperable systems that respect sovereignty while promoting shared resources and networks. These digital systems create and reinforce collaborative models, capacity-building and standard-setting. As a result, this digital infrastructure offers a new avenue for cooperation and diplomacy in an ever-fragmented global order.
Interoperable systems are often built using open-source software (OSS), where the source code is publicly available and can be used, modified and distributed freely by anyone and for any purpose. OSS licences grant users, including governments, these rights, with the aim of fostering greater collaboration and digitalization. These shared systems can lower costs, increase the flexibility of application and enhance security and reliability through community scrutiny.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of OSS with the mutual recognition of digital vaccination certificates. In partnership, the World Health Organization (WHO) and EU created the EU Digital COVID Certificate, adopted by all 27 EU member states. This system used open-source code and common principles to share healthcare information, which led to reduced transmission and saved lives. This approach enabled EU countries to leverage digital functions for health, while maintaining national guidelines on pandemic responses.
Effective examples of open digital infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated global acceptance of interoperable systems, noticeably shifting the balance of interoperable digital infrastructure from intra-jurisdictional to cross-border. As a result, WHO, in collaboration with Saudi Arabia, has developed the Hajj health card scheme to support 3 million people travelling from Indonesia, Malaysia and Oman to Mecca for the annual pilgrimage. This open-source platform, built on robust and transparent standards, improves the safety of international pilgrims by providing a secure way for participating states to share personal data with healthcare providers, such as medication needs, allergies, immunization status and pre-existing conditions. This DPI tool increases data security and trust among participating countries.
Effective examples of open digital infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated global acceptance of interoperable systems, noticeably shifting the balance of interoperable digital infrastructure from intra-jurisdictional to cross-border.
International collaboration through DPI is not confined to healthcare. In Singapore, the Infocomm Media Development Authority created TradeTrust, a successful digital framework for trade that allows the exchange and verification of digitized documents. For electronic bills of lading for routes between Singapore and Rotterdam, TradeTrust has reduced the processing time from 5–10 days to under 24 hours. This has further cemented Singapore’s position as a secure, efficient trading partner, and a fintech leader in Southeast Asia. In the EU, the electronic Identification, Authentication and trust Services (eIDAS) framework, a comparable system for ensuring the authenticity of electronic signatures and documents, has achieved similar outcomes for improving international trust and trade.
There is insufficient funding for open-source DPI at present, which diminishes collaborative and digital diplomacy gains. The Digital Public Goods (DPG) Registry – a global multi-stakeholder initiative – is an exemplary record of digital tools that have open software, standards, data, AI systems and content that adhere to privacy standards and the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Likewise, the DPI Use Cases Explorer, offers a repository of applied DPI that deliver real-world services. But these registries are not exhaustive, and gaps remain. Without easily accessed interoperable systems, states will look for alternative sources for DPI. In these instances, developing and emerging countries are often co-opted into adopting either Global North or Chinese technological standards and systems. This problem is demonstrated by Pakistan’s reliance on Beijing’s China–Pakistan Economic Corridor digital systems, exposing critical infrastructure to debt traps; African nations adopting Eurocentric General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards due to colonial legal ties; and in the pursuit of AI capabilities, where middle powers and developing countries are presented with a binary choice between US and Chinese technology. Addressing this power imbalance is a critical issue.
Greater awareness of and funding for OSS would provide countries with more options, as would new interoperable systems, more cooperation, digital exchange and improved practice between states using similar DPI systems.
To date, a specific framework for DPI cooperation has not been established. But organic, effective collaboration on shared challenges is already happening through digital means. A formalized collaborative governance mechanism would be the next step to protect interoperable systems from potential disputes due to differing legal systems, while respecting autonomy and different standards. The final form of such a mechanism is yet to emerge, but lessons could be learned from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, on public–private partnership, co-financing and making the most of a lean governance structure for strategic direction and policymaking.
