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.