UNICEF’s ‘Global Outlook 2025: Prospects for Children’ deals with the transformative role that DPI can play in delivery of digital public services for children.
What is meant by DPI?
- It is a set of shared digital systems that deliver and provide equitable access to public and/or private services at societal scale.
- Its ecosystem comprises technology, markets and governance.
Role of DPI in children's well-being
- Equitable access to essential services: E.g. Digital IDs connected to civil registration systems enable lifelong access to essential services.
- Education: E.g. India’s national digital education platform, DIKSHA, bridges educational gaps.
- Health: Facilitates electronic health records. E.g. Electronic Immunization Registry in Jamaica improved childhood vaccination rate.
- Foster financial literacy and inclusion by enabling children to participate in the digital economy
- Enhances social protection systems by enabling targeted delivery of benefits and improved data sharing for better child services.
Challenges associated with use of DPI
- Poor connectivity and digital inequality: E.g.- Only 43.6% of Indian rural youth aged 15-24 can send emails.
- Poor integration of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems into national ID: It restricts universal coverage.
- Others: Lack of data interoperability and harmonization across systems, data protection, security and surveillance issues, etc.
Recommendations
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