Chatham House Calls on Governments to Build Digital Public Infrastructure Fit for the Future

Governments around the world are being urged to rethink the way they build and manage digital systems, as a new Chatham House report warns that fragmented platforms and vendor lock-in are holding back innovation and public value.

The report, The Case for Expanding Digital Public Infrastructure, argues that national digital transformation strategies must move beyond standalone apps and portals toward interoperable platforms that serve as shared foundations for identity, payments, and data exchange.

“Digital public infrastructure is the new layer of the state,” the report notes, describing DPI as the backbone of a resilient, inclusive, and sovereign digital government. It calls for a fundamental shift from viewing technology as a service channel to treating it as essential national infrastructure – no less critical than roads or electricity.

From Siloed Systems to Shared Foundations

For many governments, the report suggests, digital transformation has been incremental rather than systemic. Agencies have developed bespoke systems to meet specific needs – from digital ID schemes to benefit-payment platforms – but these rarely integrate with each other. The result is duplication, high costs, and inconsistent user experiences.

By contrast, DPI offers a way to build once and reuse many times. It creates shared digital building blocks that departments, local authorities, and even private organisations can plug into. Successful examples include Estonia’s X-Road, India’s India Stack, and Singapore’s GovTech ecosystem, says the report.

The benefits go beyond efficiency. Chatham House argues that DPI can enhance national sovereignty by reducing dependence on foreign technology providers and enabling governments to embed their own standards, values, and privacy protections.

Five Strengths Governments can Harness

The report outlines five key advantages of DPI, all directly relevant to digital transformation teams and CIOs in the public sector.

• Sovereignty: Open, interoperable platforms help governments reduce reliance on proprietary or foreign systems, giving them control over critical national digital assets.
• Economic growth: Lower transaction costs and simplified data exchange can unlock productivity gains and support domestic tech ecosystems.
• Security and resilience: Building on transparent, auditable systems can strengthen defences against cyber threats and geopolitical risks.
• Public-sector efficiency: DPI enables seamless data-sharing, more joined-up citizen services, and faster innovation across departments.
• Global collaboration: Shared digital standards and open-source tools make it easier for countries to cooperate on cross-border services and trade.

Implementation: Open, Fair and Governed

However, Chatham House cautions that DPI is not a “plug-and-play” solution. The report highlights four conditions for success:

1. Open standards and interoperability must be non-negotiable, ensuring systems can evolve and integrate over time.
2. Equitable access must be built in to prevent new digital divides, particularly in connectivity and digital identity.
3. Strong governance and transparency are essential to prevent DPI from becoming a tool of surveillance or exclusion.
4. A long-term mindset is needed – DPI is not a one-off IT project, but an ongoing public investment in digital infrastructure.

The authors stress that the public sector must invest not just in technology, but also in people and processes, building the skills, standards, and institutions needed to manage shared digital infrastructure responsibly.

The report concludes that without robust digital foundations, governments risk falling behind economically and administratively. Countries that fail to invest in DPI will find it harder to deliver reliable services, enable innovation, or maintain digital sovereignty in an era of global competition.