Europe’s Evolving Approach to Digital Public Infrastructure

Since 2023, the digital public infrastructure (DPI) movement has continued to gather steam, with its promise of improving financial inclusion, service delivery in both the public and the private sector, and fostering innovation. Referring to foundational digital systems and platforms, such as digital identity, digital payments, and data exchange, DPI promises to enable private innovation on public rails, and have become a critical aspect of development discourse today.

While the Indian model of government-led DPI systems – the IndiaStack – is one of the most well-known DPI approaches, European players are increasingly advocating for a European vision of such infrastructure, grounded in participatory alternatives, such as the Digital Commons, interoperable and open-source technologies, and strategic autonomy over critical infrastructures via the EuroStack initiative.

This session explores governance models, open-source standards, and cross-border frameworks to align digital identity and data systems. Launching a new white paper, it will also catalyse a working group and cross-sector commitments to support national pilots and EU-level coordination.