📈The Journey

The Universal Safeguards for DPI initiative, launched in 2023 by the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (OSET) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), set out to co-create a pragmatic framework for countries implementing DPI. It is a multi-stakeholder initiative designed to ensure DPI implementations mitigate risks at both the individual and societal levels, advance the SDGs, and foster trust and equity across all countries.

Six working groups, comprising diverse experts and DPI practitioners from a broad range of stakeholders within the global digital ecosystem, led the development of the Framework. Insights, feedback, and recommendations from an International Organizations Consultative Group, as well as from convenings, country engagements and public consultations, have informed this guide.

The Framework is created through expert-led discussions and broad consultations with practitioners

In April 2024, the inductive phase of the initiative concluded with the release of anInterim Report, ‘Leveraging DPI for Safe and Inclusive Societies’ for public comments. The Interim Report provided an overview of the Framework’s components and proposed initial high-level principles.

In September 2024, the guide ‘The Universal Digital Public Infrastructure Safeguards Framework - A Guide to Building Safe and Inclusive DPI for Societies’ was released, along with the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework.

The Universal DPI Safeguards Framework comprises principles, process and practice recommendations to be employed by various responsible authorities within the DPI ecosystem to mitigate risks to safety and inclusivity. Risks are specified in relation to each stage of the DPI life cycle and are also addressed by upholding foundational and operational principles for safe and inclusive DPI. These principles were first introduced in the Interim Report.

To be universally applicable to all DPI and responsive to stakeholder needs, the Framework will continue to be developed through continuous feedback cycles with multi-stakeholder inputs.