Digital Square endorses the Charter for Digital Public Goods
Digital Square is pleased to announce its endorsement of the Charter for Digital Public Goods (DPG Charter). The multi-stakeholder DPG Charter campaign represents a commitment to advancing the use of digital public goods as countries build safe, trusted, and inclusive digital public infrastructure at scale. By endorsing the DPG Charter, we believe we can better amplify and align Digital Square’s and the DPG Charter’s shared goals for digital health in support of high-quality and equitable health care.
Digital public goods: A backbone of strong digital public infrastructure
Digital public infrastructure (DPI) consists of digital solutions and systems, including secure digital data exchange, that enable the effective provision of services such as digital health records, cash transfers, and digitalized identification and other civil registration. As countries work to develop, expand, and maintain their DPI, they face many challenges. When such systems are haphazardly designed, they can contribute to inequity and introduce data privacy issues. When designed intentionally with safety, inclusion, and trust at the core, alongside clear direction from government leaders, DPI systems can provide sustainable benefits to an entire population. Well-designed DPI can help both public and private stakeholders increase equity and provide a scalable, future-ready approach to cross-sectoral digital services.
Digital public goods (or DPGs) are open-source software, open data, open artificial intelligence models, open architecture, open standards, and open content that adhere to the DPG Standard—they must meet privacy and other applicable laws and best practices, do no harm, and help attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Because of these characteristics, DPGs offer the potential to help countries overcome challenges they face when building and maintaining their DPI. They provide more options for governments that want to ensure their systems are designed for the public good in a way that will increase health equity rather than widen existing gaps.
A campaign to advance digital public goods
Co-led by the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) and the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA) and published in September 2022, the DPG Charter aims to galvanize interest in DPGs, nurture critical discussion, and mobilize action to advance DPGs and DPI. It’s also an opportunity to showcase how the public and private sectors can work together to accelerate the ability of countries to use technology to attain the SDGs.
“It’s too big for anyone to do alone.”
“To help advance digital public infrastructure, we will need a broad consortium of aligned partners,” notes Chrissy Martin Meier, Director of the Charter for Digital Public Goods. “It’s too big for anyone to do alone.”
Digital Square supports the DPG Charter
Read the DPG Charter.
As a digital health marketplace focused on connecting health leaders with the resources necessary for digital transformation, Digital Square is proud to endorse the DPG Charter.
We believe that digital tools can provide better access to high-quality health services at lower costs–a necessary component in helping countries work toward Universal Health Coverage and attaining SDG 3. Digital health global goods, which are health-focused software, content, and service DPGs, can empower countries to build and strengthen the health sector and improve health equity. In addition, global goods can be leveraged for other sectors and contribute to overall DPI systems. The DPG Charter’s mission to advance the use of DPGs can help make this a reality sooner.
By joining together with global partners in this effort, we can all help advocate for the adoption of digital public goods.
Digital Square’s alignment with DPGA
Digital Square promotes the development, adoption, and reuse of digital health global goods, which are mature digital health tools that are adaptable to different countries and contexts and aligned with the DPG Standard. While there is overlap in the definition of DPGs and global goods, digital health global goods undergo additional evaluation on criteria related to global utility, community support, and overall maturity—as specified in the global goods maturity model and reviewed by an independent and neutral committee.
Digital Square is not a normative body nor a certification unit. As a member of the Digital Public Goods Alliance, Digital Square is closely coordinating with DPGA to align global goods with the process of becoming a DPG and to help increase the discoverability and adoption of health solutions by having them listed on the DPG Registry, a repository where all DPGs can be found. To date, 16 global goods are DPGs and an additional 7 have begun the process to become one.
Join the campaign
To learn more about the DPG Charter and how your organization can help support the campaign, please visit the DPG Charter website.