Newsletter – January 2025
Welcome to our first quarterly newsletter! Inside, you’ll find an introduction to DCI, a recap of our work in 2024, and a preview of exciting upcoming events and opportunities.
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Contents
About DCI | 2024 Year in Review | Knowledge Sharing | Standards Development | Country Implementation Support
About the Digital Convergence Initiative
An open and transparent international initiative to support the digital transformation of social protection systems and build global consensus on interoperability standards.
Founded in 2021, the Digital Convergence Initiative (DCI) is a joint effort by USP2030 members, governments, development partners, civil society organizations and private companies to support the digital transformation of social protection systems. The DCI receives funding from the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The secretariat of the DCI is jointly housed at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Expertise France, the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and The World Bank. Learn more about our governance on our website.
18€ million EU funding for DCI in 2024
In 2024, the European Union (EU) joined the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) as a co-funder of DCI, providing 18 million EUR to support digital transformation and the interoperability of social protection systems.
DCI held a virtual side event at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2024, where the funding was launched. More than 100 social protection and ICT experts participated in the event, which focused on the potential of human-centred digitalisation in social protection to achieve Universal Social Protection by 2030. The blog “Digitalisation is the key to achieving USP2030 goal” features key highlights and insights from the event.
This growing partnership has enabled the initiative to expand the scope of work to support more countries in their journey of digital transformation of social protection systems. DCI is now scaling up activities in the three core workstreams: knowledge sharing, standards development, and country implementation.
Workstreams and achievements
1. Knowledge sharing
It also facilitates in-person and virtual learning events including conferences, webinars and study tours. These activities have fostered the development of a community with stakeholders from different backgrounds that participate in events, contribute to discussions, and are directly involved in the creation of standards. DCI thus serves as a platform for continuous learning and knowledge sharing.
Highlights of 2024
AI for Social Protection Workshop
A three-day workshop in Bangkok in November 2024 brought together 112 participants from 22 countries to brainstorm on the burning topics of: Where can AI generate the biggest benefits for social protection systems? What are the challenges and risks and the way forward?
‘We stand at the brink of an AI revolution in social protection,’ said Hon. Mohamed Rahman Swaray, Minister for Employment, Labour and Social Security in Sierra Leone. He was speaking at the close of the workshop AI4SocialProtection – Overcoming Challenges and Creating Opportunities, held at the KX Knowledge Center in Bangkok from 19 to 21 November 2024.
This event saw social protection experts, policy makers, country representatives, technology specialists, and AI software providers from around the world gather to brainstorm opportunities to harness AI’s transformative potential in social protection, share stories about how AI has already been used, and voice their concerns about the risks and challenges.
The event was co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Commission, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and co-hosted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), the Digital Convergence Initiative (DCI), and ADB, in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Bank (WB), and the International Social Security Association (ISSA).
Find out more by reading the blog published on socialprotection.org and watching the video below.
“Talking Interoperability” – Dialogue Series in 2024
DCI held 4 webinars in 2024, presenting cases from Indonesia, Lebanon, Azerbaijan and North Macedonia. Recordings, presentations and learning briefs summarizing the key messages are available in the resources section of the DCI website.
Upcoming work
“Talking Interoperability” Webinars
The next two webinars will take place on March 18, 2025, and June 12, 2025. Keep an eye on our website for more details.
DCI Training Programme
In 2025, work is starting on developing the DCI Training Programme, which is designed to equip policymakers, technical experts and practitioners in selected partner countries with the competencies necessary to implement and drive digital transformation and interoperability strategies within social protection domains.
Publications
DCI is planning several publications in 2025, including a study on Social Protection Interoperability and Cross-Border Portability.
2. Standards development
Why are interoperability standards important?
DCI work
DCI has been working on developing consensus-based interoperability standards for the integration of seven key interfaces with Social Protection Management Information Systems. These interfaces include: Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), Integrated Beneficiary Registry (IBR), Social Registry, Disability Registry, Farmer Registry, ID Systems, and Payment Systems.
Significant strides were made recently. In 2024 the CRVS and IBR standards received endorsement from USP2030, while the Social Registry and Disability Registry standards received endorsement in January 2025. Discussions regarding the Farmer Registry standards are currently underway. Over 50 experts from 27 partner institutions across 11 countries actively participated in the standards development process through four standard committees. These committees comprise a diverse group of professionals, including representatives from international organizations, government bodies, digital public goods (DPGs), the private sector, and civil society. This creates a space for diverse stakeholders to come together and built consensus to create a public good for the social protection sector. View more about the standards on our website, and view presentations and recordings of webinars under resources.
Status of the standards
A governance structure is being established to create a solid framework for the implementation, compliance, and continuous improvement of the DCI interoperability standards. The adoption of these standards will take place through two main channels: first, via the implementation of standards by the key digital public goods (DPGs) involved in social protection, and second, through specific requests made by countries as part of their national social protection systems.
Upcoming work
Looking forward, work on the next two standards, ID and Payments, will commence this year. All completed and ongoing standards are documented digitally on GitBook and GitHub. For any questions on the application of the standards or to get involved, reach us at contact@spdci.org.
3. Country implementation support
DCI implementing organizations provide support to selected partner countries to reap the benefits of digital transformation for the delivery of social protection benefits and services and to address gaps. The DCI supports a wide range of measures, from integrating government systems and designing integrated beneficiary registries, to digitizing care pathways and facilitating interoperable interfaces between social security schemes. The DCI also supports training measures for government officials which develop capacities in inclusive digital transformation. Countries selected so far for this focused support include:
- Pakistan
- Peru
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Zambia
In focus: country implementation work in Senegal
In Senegal, DCI (Expertise France) is working on two components. First, with the Ministry of Family and Solidarity and other social protection stakeholders to implement the Integrated Beneficiary Registry and Social Registry standards to improve their interconnection with Social Protection Systems. World Bank and JICA are also contributing.
Secondly, DCI also supports the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Institutional Relations along with ICAMO to improve the digitalization of the management of health insurance and social protection schemes through openIMIS, a digital public good.
Recently, a delegation composed of two members of the ministry and two members of ICAMO participated in a study visit to Nepal on the topic of the adaptation of openIMIS in support of the Nepalese national health system. This enriching experience will lead to a better use of the openIMIS solution to benefit health insurance providers and health insurance institutions in Senegal.
Upcoming work
Over the next years, DCI is committed to providing implementation support on digital transformation and interoperability to at least 10 countries. Additionally, DCI will provide “light touch” technical consulting support for the digital transformation of social protection systems in other countries, including the implementation of AI solutions.
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