According to the World Bank, an estimated 20% of the population in low-income countries still lack access to social protection due to limited interoperability between digital systems, hence vulnerable to economic shocks. The World Bank also estimates that 36% of the poorest people escaped poverty because of social protection.

In recent years, G20 declarations have committed to social protection for all workers, and this can be done by improving access to the existing social protection benefits. Meanwhile, New Delhi’s Declaration of G20 countries recognised the use of DPIs for advancing financial inclusion for individuals and vulnerable groups in G20 countries. This was reaffirmed in G20 Brasil’s Declaration that acknowledged the contribution of Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs) to an equitable digital transformation.

DPIs can be defined as shared digital systems that are secure, and interoperable, built on open standards with robust governance frameworks to deliver equitable services at a societal scale (OECD, 2024). Some examples of DPIs include interoperable fast payment networks (such as PayNow in Singapore), and Digital Identity Systems (such as Aadhar in India).

The brief endeavours to provide policy recommendations based on the recent efforts of extending social protection benefits as DPIs utilised by some countries. A few examples include the Ejo Heza programme in Rwanda, Kartu Prakerja Programme in Indonesia, and Integrated Social Assistance Information System (ISAIS) in Turkiye. These initiatives achieved an efficient expansion of social protection coverage through identity verification of beneficiaries, secure data sharing across relevant departments, and providing easy access to the beneficiaries. Ejo Heza, for example, is built on a digital platform that is interoperable with government national IDs and social protection databases.

The policy brief will present recommendations for utilising DPIs to provide social protection benefits at scale keeping in mind different contexts of G20 countries for efficiency and transparency by minimising instances of corruption, and reducing fragmentation and delays in service delivery. A DPI-based social protection system can simplify the portability of social protection benefits, provide an integrated governance approach, and cost-effectiveness.

The objective of the policy brief is to contribute to the Task Force on Digital Transformation by providing evidence-based recommendations for G20 in building an ecosystem for developing DPIs to foster equitable digital transformation.