Digital Public Goods
Digital public goods are open-source software, open data, open AI systems or models, open standards, and open content that follow applicable laws and recognized best practices, are designed to avoid harm, and contribute to sustainable development or public value. Formal recognition as a digital public good may require assessment against the Digital Public Goods Standard.
Openness alone does not make a digital solution safe, sustainable, inclusive, or suitable for public use. Digital public goods require documentation, clear ownership, privacy and security safeguards, standards alignment, platform independence, and a viable community or stewardship model. Local implementation and governance remain essential even when the core solution is open.
Digital public goods can help states adapt shared solutions, reduce duplicated investment, develop local capability, and limit dependence on a single supplier. They are increasingly part of development cooperation and digital diplomacy. However, promoting a solution as open or public-interest technology should not substitute for assessment of security, maintenance, legal fit, institutional ownership, or long-term financing.
Digital public goods appear in open digital identity components, health and education platforms, data and mapping tools, public-service software, open AI systems, payment and registry components, crisis and humanitarian tools, and international programs supporting reusable digital solutions.
Closely related entries kept separate because each carries a distinct institutional meaning.
- Digital Public Infrastructure
Digital public infrastructure, or DPI, is a set of shared, secure, interoperable, and reusable digital systems that enable public and private services at scale. Common components include digital identity, payments, data exchange, core registries, notifications, digital post, and service gateways, governed as long-term infrastructure rather than isolated technology projects.
- GovTech
GovTech is a whole-of-government approach to public-sector modernization that uses technology, data, institutional reform, and new delivery methods to improve government operations, public services, transparency, citizen engagement, and governance. It is broader than purchasing digital tools and should be assessed through public value, capability, trust, and sustainable institutional change.
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