Press Release: 50-in-5 Milestone Event Illustrates How to Implement the New Global Digital Compact Safely and Inclusively

Press Release

New York City, September 23, 2024 — Today, the 50-in-5 campaign, an initiative that seeks to help 50 countries design, launch, and scale components of their digital public infrastructure by 2028, welcomed numerous new countries while celebrating its near one-year anniversary on the sidelines of the Summit of the Future and the agreement of the Global Digital Compact (GDC), highlighting how it can be a key driver for GDC implementation.

By bringing together high-level representatives from participating 50-in-5 countries, global leaders, and stakeholders in the digital public infrastructure (DPI) and digital public goods (DPGs) community, the event underscored and illustrated how countries can work together to implement the GDC in a safe and inclusive way.

Since the launch of the campaign in November 2023, significant progress has been made, underscoring the transformative potential of DPI for the well-being of people and the planet. Given the new announcements today from Brazil, Cambodia, France, Nigeria, Ukraine, and Uruguay, the total number of participating countries in the 50-in-5 campaign has now reached 22, spanning diverse continents and income levels.

As the GDC attests, DPI and DPGs are key enablers of inclusive digital transformation and innovation. When built in a safe, inclusive, and interoperable manner, DPI serves as digital foundations for equitable access to essential services, driving economic growth and fostering social inclusion at scale. DPI can help address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, and environmental sustainability, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for people everywhere.

“In response to the Global Digital Compact’s recognition of the potential of DPI and the urgent needs for safeguards, the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework seeks to ensure that people’s rights are preserved and our planet is protected while digital foundations are being built. With a commitment to these safeguards among 50-in-5 countries, partners and the broader DPI ecosystem, we can work together to ensure safe and inclusive societies for all,” Robert Opp, UNDP’s Chief Digital Officer. 

“Digital transformation is ultimately about serving people, and children and young people should be at the center of it. They are the future builders, users, and maintainers of all digital public infrastructure,” says Thomas Davin, Director, UNICEF Office of Innovation. “We have a monumental opportunity to meet our ambitions for an equitable and safe digital future for all, but to achieve this, inclusion – especially for women and girls – must be achieved. The expansion of the 50-in-5 campaign brings us closer to UNICEF’s commitment to growing the digital public goods ecosystem.” Thomas Davin, Director, Office of Innovation, UNICEF

The 50-in-5 campaign aims to accelerate the deployment of safe, inclusive, and interoperable DPI in 50 countries within five years. Through the campaign, countries have been able to exchange insights on effective DPI implementations and address important common challenges such as digital inclusion, privacy, and data security. Given the potential for DPGs to help direct digital technologies to their development needs, the campaign has brought countries together to share learnings and best practices around leveraging open-source technologies and DPGs for DPI, and has contributed to Universal DPI Safeguards implementation for robust governance.

Today’s event was attended by representatives from Brazil, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Norway, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Togo, Ukraine, and Zambia.

The event underscored the critical importance of these advancements as countries look ahead to the upcoming Global DPI Summit in Cairo, Egypt, where stakeholders will strategize and problem-solve by sharing their experiences to advance DPI adoption and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Brazil’s participation in international forums like this one transfers DPI domestically and abroad. This action forces transformative exchanges, connects countries, reduces costs and promotes joint development. We are proud to join the 50-in-5 campaign.” H.E Esther Dweck, Minister of Management and Innovation  in Public Services, Brazil 

“It’s a pleasure to join the 50-in-5 community and share the experience and learnings within this vibrant community. I deeply believe that we are speaking and we are building the future of the digital revolution.” H.E Henri Verdier, Ambassador of Digital Affairs, France

“The digital identity, digital payments system, as well as data exchange, will be open source platforms that will provide us with a flexible, secure and cost effective foundation to scale digital services across the country, ensuring all Basotho can engage in the digital economy and have access to public services seamlessly.” H. E Nthati Moorosi, Minister of Information, Communications, Science, Technology and Innovation, Lesotho

Hosted at the Scandinavia House in New York City, the event was led by the Digital Public Goods Alliance Secretariat in close collaboration with UNDP, UNICEF, the Inter-American Development Bank, Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, and the Co-Development Fund, who served as event champions.

The 50-in-5 campaign is also supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure, GovStack, USAID, and UN Women.The 50-in-5 campaign is led by countries committed to sharing learnings, best practices, and technologies that can ultimately reduce costs, build local capacity, maximize impact, and help radically shorten the implementation journeys for digital public infrastructure. To find out more about the campaign and milestone event, please visit 50in5.net or contact the campaign team here.