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.

Today, 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.

Three Shifts Can Help Unlock this Shared Value

• Evolve financing models for digital public goods

Sustaining DPGs requires predictable, distributed financing. Emerging models—from pooled maintenance funds to blended instruments (grants for cores, loans for rollouts)—suggest a transition is underway. As digital systems become core state capability, recurring investment in the shared components that underpin them is becoming more politically feasible. Ensuring that donors, multilateral development banks, and private partners contribute proportionally can help align financing with the value generated.Strengthen local capability and institutional stewardship

• Strengthen local capability and institutional stewardship

Countries benefit most when they can adapt and improve the systems they use. Building this capability requires long-term investment in domestic digital teams, regional support networks, and enabling institutions such as OSPOs. Training ecosystems that support both system integrators (for deployment) and independent software vendors (for extension and upstream improvements) help reduce pressure on core teams and broaden the base of contributors.

• Reduce the cost and complexity of contributing

Modular, well-documented systems are easier to adapt and to contribute back to. Across the ecosystem, DPGs are deconstructing their stacks into clearer, more reusable components supported by stable APIs, reference architectures, and test suites. Procurement reforms, such as open-first evaluation criteria, contribute back clauses, or modular contracting can further align incentives, rewarding improvements that strengthen the shared core rather than isolated deployments.

The Path Forward

DPGs create significant economic and social value, but they cannot capture that value through traditional commercial models. Their purpose is to maximise openness and equitable access. Contribution back to the core should therefore not be considered a bonus or let alone optional, as it is the mechanism necessary to sustain both the DPG itself while ensuring countries retain the ability to adapt, maintain, and evolve the digital systems they increasingly depend on.

Moving from adoption to contribution means designing the financial, institutional, and governance systems that make participation feasible for a wide range of actors—not just those with large technical teams. With stronger incentives, clearer structures, and shared stewardship, DPGs can continue to evolve as reliable, interoperable foundations for digital public infrastructure worldwide.

Learn more about how we can ensure we move from adopting DPGs alone, and instead sustaining them by reading this article.