Understanding Where DPGs Are Deployed: Findings from the 2026 Research Pilot

Digital public goods are becoming increasingly vital to governments worldwide. However, their greatest advantage is precisely what makes them so difficult to track: governments can adopt, adapt, and operate these systems entirely on their own terms, with no obligation to request permission. This means deployments are often not reported back to the original DPG product owners which results in gaps in truly knowing the global footprint of DPGs and dependence on fragmented and anecdotal information. To replace this guesswork with empirical data, the DPGA Secretariat undertook research that mapped 18 software DPGs deployments. The findings revealed a striking scale of adoption: 244 active deployments operating across 103 countries, supporting the work of public authorities at national scale.For decision makers and funders, establishing this verified footprint provides a strategic tool, highlighting proven peer-country models for public procurement and revealing exactly where targeted funding can help early-stage systems reach full scale. While insufficient for measuring impact alone, understanding where and at what stage DPGs are deployed can inform future research on how DPGs actually integrate, scale, and evolve as well as their development outcomes. High-Level Insights By combining desk research, DPG product owner consultation, and independent verification, the pilot revealed four trends regarding how DPGs operate on the ground:Low- and Middle-Income Countries Drive Global Adoption: Roughly three-quarters of all documented deployments are occurring in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Sub-Saharan Africa demonstrates a highly distributed adoption pattern, hosting 66 deployments spanning 30 different countries—nearly two-thirds of the region. Meanwhile, South Asia boasts 37 deployments, though this regional picture is heavily skewed by India, which alone accounts for 32 primarily state-level rollouts. Latin America also shows strong, distributed momentum, with 21 deployments across 14 countries.Key Takeaway → Policymakers and funders seeking to understand DPG adoption should look to the Global South. The highly distributed rollouts across Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America offer practical models of implementation, providing valuable empirical lessons on scaling digital infrastructure that can inform technology strategies globally, including in developed nations. Nearly 40% of the documented deployments are currently in the pilot or implementation phases. A substantial portion of the DPG deployments studied are currently in the pilot or implementation phase. MOSIP, for instance, represents a major upcoming wave of digital identity infrastructure, with 16 of its 22 counted deployments still in the pilot stage. Key Takeaway → Funders and implementation partners have a practical opportunity to support these developing systems. Because so many deployments are in early stages, stakeholders may still help shape system design and governance as they scale. Conversely, for the deployments that have already reached live status, partners can pivot their strategies toward maintenance, upgrades, and long-term sustainability Co-Location Does Not Equal Integration: Governments in nearly half of the adopting jurisdictions (50 out of 103 countries) deploy multiple DPGs. However, running multiple DPGs within the same country does not automatically constitute a functioning, integrated digital stack. Excluding DHIS2, 10 countries deploy multiple DPI-focused solutions, yet only Ethiopia, Tonga, and the Philippines have demonstrated verified, production-level integration between them. For example, Tonga successfully linked its civil registration system (OpenCRVS) directly to its national ID system (built on MOSIP) so that vital events automatically update the identity register. Key Takeaway → To build truly cohesive digital public infrastructure, governments and stakeholders must shift focus from simply deploying new systems to connecting the ones they already have. By learning from countries that have successfully bridged administrative silos, authorities can turn isolated software deployments into a functioning digital ecosystem. Usage Metrics Remain Fragmented: Deployment counts confirm that DPGs are being widely deployed, but they do not serve as reliable proxies for developmental impact or social inclusion. While research confirmed five live national ID systems built on MOSIP hold approximately 168 million registrations, and data exchange systems like Cambodia's CamDX have routed over 117 million transactions, usage data overall remains fragmented. Comparing digital identities to financial transactions or course enrollments prevents a standardized analysis of global DPG performance. Key Takeaway → Governments, product owners, and researchers must collaborate to establish standard, domain-specific indicators to measure tangible benefits for citizens rather than just technical scale.To explore these findings in depth, download the full report and openly available dataset. The report starts with the pilot's scope and method. It then explains which DPGs were examined and why, how they work together, and how they relate to Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and climate action, followed by country examples on selected deployments, lessons and learnings on mapping DPG deployments and how to contribute. The annex provides insight into the full methodology, the deployment table and a glossary of fields.Where this Research is Going and How to ContributeThis pilot dataset is just a starting point. A reliable global census depends on active ecosystem participation to shape future metrics and improve accuracy. We are therefore calling on all stakeholders to engage directly with the data:Spot missing data: Report unrecorded deployments, integrations, or outdated project phases.Submit DPG data: DPG product owners can integrate their pipeline and deployment records.Confirm government records: Governments can verify their system’s scale, legal basis, and operational partners.Conduct independent research: Researchers can use this baseline to further investigate hard-to-measure areas like usage, inclusion, and governance.Help us to learn from practice and share your feedback via the form.

Leveraging DPGs for Rapid Response to Urgent Global Challenges

The global development landscape is facing a dual crisis. On one hand, we are witnessing a rise in Urgent Global Challenges (UGCs)—events that exceed routine disaster response capacities, frequently cross borders, and require coordinated international action. On the other hand, the resources available to meet these challenges had been shrinking, with global aid budgets having declined by up to 17% in 2025.This raises a central strategic question: How can institutions ensure that digital systems can be mobilised rapidly and effectively when the next major shock occurs?The DPGA Strategy 2023–2028 identifies a clear objective: by 2028, digital public goods (DPGs) should form a default component of the international community’s approach to preventing and responding to UGCs. Target 4 outlines the development of a global methodology for rapidly establishing communities of practice, as well as financing mechanisms to support relevant DPGs.At the DPGA Annual Members Meeting (AMM25) in Brasília, policymakers, practitioners, and technologists met to translate this objective into a concrete trajectory for 2026.Defining the Scope: Readiness for ResponseWhile mitigation and long-term recovery remain essential, discussions at the AMM25 underscored that the distinctive contribution of DPGs lies in rapid operational activation. UGCs are characterised by urgent timelines, uncertainty, and the need for coordinated digital action across institutions and borders. For this reason, the emerging focus is on scalable process models—structured methodologies that enable governments and partners to deploy and adapt digital tools quickly and systematically.It also became clear that rapid response is a cross-cutting theme that interacts with broader digital and governance ecosystems. Crises often generate significant pressures in areas such as:Information pollution, where inaccurate or misleading information disrupts coordination and decision-making;Digital public infrastructure (DPI), where foundational systems such as identity, payments, and registries must remain functional under degraded conditions or elevated demand;Climate-related events, which increasingly require real-time data, interoperable systems, and rapid mobilisation of sector-specific tools.These intersections demonstrate that readiness for response is not a discrete domain but an integral component of multiple DPGA workstreams.Participants also identified key vulnerabilities that frequently arise in crisis contexts, helping to clarify where process models must provide operational guidance:Delays or barriers in data sharing, often linked to unclear legal frameworks or governance arrangements;Connectivity disruptions, reinforcing the need for offline capability and low-bandwidth optimisation;Insufficient local implementation capacity, leading to reliance on external actors during periods when local expertise is most needed;Fragmentation among digital systems, where tools exist but lack validated workflows, integration pathways, or predefined institutional responsibilities.Given the evolving nature of UGCs and the variation in country contexts, this scope will remain an ongoing discussion within the DPGA community.Evidence on DPG Value: Rapid Adaptation and ResilienceAt the AMM25, experts presented concrete examples demonstrating how DPGs have supported rapid response in practice. Two attributes were repeatedly highlighted: Rapid adaptation and resilience.1. Rapid Adaptation and Repurposing During COVID-19, the ability of open-source platforms to be reconfigured on short timelines proved critical. Pamod Amarakoon (Director HISP Sri Lanka) described how DHIS2 was adapted to support a port-of-entry tracking system within days. This reflects broader research showing that open and modular systems enable unplanned yet essential adaptations during emergencies.2. Resilience: Stable and Scalable Infrastructure Emily Bennett, Head of Digital Public Solutions at UNICC, highlighted the importance of robust and secure digital infrastructure to maintain continuity of operations under crisis conditions. Building on this, she also noted that tools deployed in emergency contexts can continue to deliver value well beyond the crisis itself. She pointed to UNICC’s experience deploying iReport in eight countries, initially designed for short-term use around critical events, but later institutionalised by several governments once its broader usefulness became clear. This experience highlights the importance of considering post-emergency sustainability and long-term operational use when deploying DPGs for crisis response. Likewise, Zhongxin Chen, Senior IT Officer, D4I Lead at FAO) demonstrated how the organisation’s digital infrastructure for agrifood systems - FAO Agro-informatics Platform (FAIP) supports emergency agricultural and food security operations, pointing to the sectoral breadth of DPG relevance.Insights from Brasília: The "Status Quo" MapFollowing the expert panel, workshop participants engaged in a co-design exercise. The resulting "status quo" maps highlighted several persistent challenges:Technology: Offline capability remains essential for disaster resilience, and participants underscored the importance of low-code/no-code approaches to support rapid local adaptation.Governance: In many countries,legal frameworks to support interoperability and cross-border data sharing are still absent. Internal governance structures for emergency data use are also frequently underdeveloped.Support and Capacity: Discussions highlighted limited availability of local implementer networks and a continued reliance on external consultants, both of which hinder rapid deployment and long-term sustainability.The Way Ahead: Ideas for Strengthening ReadinessDuring the discussions, participants put forward several possible ideas for how readiness could be strengthened, without treating any of them as settled solutions. One idea was to create a shared, pre-crisis environment where different digital public goods could be set up quickly, tested together, and run through realistic emergency scenarios to surface gaps and improve how systems work together before a real shock occurs. Another idea focused on people rather than systems, suggesting more structured ways to build local technical capacity so that technologists on the ground are better prepared to deploy, adapt, and maintain digital tools under crisis conditions. A third idea addressed institutional bottlenecks, pointing to the value of having practical legal and procedural resources prepared in advance—such as guidance on procurement, data sharing, and decision-making—to reduce delays when governments and partners need to act quickly. These ideas were discussed as part of a broader set of options, with the understanding that further exploration and refinement will be needed as the work continues. Strengthening readiness for response will require continued collaboration, evidence, and alignment across sectors and regions. The ideas emerging from Brasília offer a concrete foundation, but their impact will depend on the engagement of a broader community of partners. We invite stakeholders to help shape and advance this work as the DPGA refines its 2026 agenda. For questions or to get involved, please contact Max Kintisch, Director of Research & Urgent Global Challenges of the DPGA Secretariat, at max@digitalpublicgoods.net.

How Do We Ensure that DPGs are Not Just Adopted, but Sustained as Well?

As countries accelerate investments in digital public infrastructure (DPI), digital public goods (DPGs) have become essential building blocks for implementors—providing open-source, reusable platforms for countries to implement digital identity, payments, and data exchange systems effectively. However, the sustainability of these systems hinges on creating financing models that support the upstream maintenance of their shared open-source components—a gap the DPGA’s Calls for Collaborative Action, including its USD 250 million call for DPGs that power DPI, aims to address. Their value is clear: countries and implementers often turn to DPGs to reduce duplication, lower costs, avoid vendor lock-in, and enable countries to adapt systems to local needs. Yet adoption alone does not sustain value nor guarantee these outcomes. That depends on contribution back to the core DPGs—a form of collective stewardship involving continuous improvements, documentation, localisation, and shared learning that keeps DPGs secure, interoperable, up-to-date, and relevant across contexts.“Organisations that contribute back to the open-source projects they depend on don’t just give — they learn, innovate, and capture more value over time.” Frank Nagle, Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Chief Economist, The Linux FoundationToday, the contribution loop for DPGs is underdeveloped. Most of the financing efforts target initial deployments of a DPG, neglecting the upstream maintenance of the open-source core that the DPG is built on. Many governments lack the institutional structures— whether they be Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs), procurement policies, or developer training pathways—that can make systematic contribution possible. And while DPGs are open-by-design, their contribution channels, governance models, and incentives vary widely, creating uneven participation and sometimes reinforcing capability gaps.Despite these challenges, emerging evidence shows that when contribution back to the core is intentionally supported, the benefits compound and multiply. Countries gain stronger digital capability, vendors build products and services around shared components, and global improvements circulate faster—reducing costs and strengthening resilience for all.There is no single solution to close this gap. In this article, however, we outline several modalities to consider—centred on three shifts that can help unlock the shared value of DPGs.