Newsletter – November 2025
Welcome to our quarterly newsletter! Inside, you’ll learn about recent events, upcoming events and opportunities from the Digital Convergence Initiative.
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Recent blogs
From principles to practice: what the new Digital Principles mean for social protection
The blog walks through nine principles, from understanding the ecosystem and designing with people, to building sustainably and mitigating risks, illustrating what each means in practice for governments and practitioners working to strengthen digital social protection systems. Read the blog here.
Across 21 countries, a shared journey toward inclusive and digital social protection
Many countries face common barriers such as fragmented IT infrastructure, limited interoperability, and weak institutional capacity. DCI is accompanying governments on their digital journeys, from diagnostics and design of country-specific blueprints to the implementation of interoperable platforms and pilot use of AI. Click here to read.
Building a global language: the role of standards in interoperable systems
Why are technical standards essential for the effective delivery of digital social protection systems? Just as standards enable everyday interoperability, like using a credit card abroad, they are key to ensure that government systems can exchange data efficiently to identify beneficiaries, deliver payments, and monitor outcomes. DCI leads a global effort to harmonize these standards. You can read the blog here.
Advancing digital public infrastructure for social protection
Upcoming events
The AI Hub for Social Protection – supporting responsible AI in social protection
Join us for the official launch of the AI Hub for Social Protection, an initiative under the DCI, on December 2, 2025, from 14:00 to 15:30 GMT.
This webinar will introduce the AI Hub’s mission and services, outlining what governments can expect from its advisory support and how it promotes responsible AI innovation in the social protection sector.
By bringing together policymakers, digital social protection leaders, and technology experts from government, civil society, and international organizations, the event will:
- Present the AI Hub’s vision, structure, and core activities
- Share insights from ongoing research
- Highlight country-level AI implementation experiences and use cases
- Facilitate a panel discussion on responsible AI adoption, exploring both opportunities and risks, and concluding with practical policy and implementation recommendations
Be part of this important conversation on advancing responsible, innovative, and sovereign AI in social protection.
Recent publications
A data governance framework for digital social protection systems
As countries accelerate the digitalization of their social protection systems, the way governments collect and use data is transforming rapidly. Digital platforms unlock new efficiencies but also introduce risks around data security, quality, ethical use, and public trust.
To help countries navigate these challenges, a new publication presents the first data governance framework designed specifically for the social protection sector to build trusted, secure, and citizen-centred data ecosystems.
Read the publication here.
Best practices for developing, implementing, and managing interoperability standards
How do the world’s most effective standards bodies keep their frameworks clear, trusted, and widely adopted? This publication grasps lessons from public financial management standards, healthcare interoperability standards, and ISO standards.
The publication serves as a practical guide for practitioners aiming to design and manage interoperability standards that work in the real world.
Read more here.
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Recent events
DCI Steering Committee meeting
The first in-person steering committee meeting along with the DCI secretariat took place in October, at the World Bank offices in Brussels, Belgium. The committee and secretariat reviewed recent achievements, upcoming activities, and discussed how to expand DCI’s work to more countries, widen the partnership platform further, as well as enhance private sector engagement.
Launch of the European Programme on Digital Transformation on Social Protection in Chile
The programme was officially launched in September at the Ministry of Social Development and Family of Chile. The initiative, which is part of DCI’s global implementation, will work with the National Service for Older People (SEMANA) to improve the access, coverage, and quality of services through more efficient, integrated, and interoperable information systems. Learn more here.
Second World Summit for Social Development
DCI co-organized a Solutions Session at the Second World Summit for Social Development 2025, in Doha, Qatar. The event gathered governments, development partners, and other key stakeholders to explore how digital technologies can enhance social protection systems. The session showcased real-world evidence, experiences and insights from countries that highlight how international cooperation can strengthen the digital social protection ecosystem and support the path to universal social protection and social development. Read more about the event here.
Technical standards
Employment standards committee launches
The sixth DCI Standards Committee, dedicated to improving the interoperability of Employment Systems with Social Protection Systems, launched on November 20. This committee brings together 19 experts from diverse organizations, including government agencies, international organizations, digital public goods (DPGs), the private sector, and individual specialists. The committee will embark on the crucial task of reviewing draft standards to build consensus Read all the details here.
Recent events on interoperability standards
Linking social protection and public employment services through system interoperability
The recent Talking Interoperability webinar examined the linkages between social protection and public employment services, highlighting how interoperability can strengthen coordination and streamline service delivery. Drawing on experiences and insights from South Korea, the discussion illustrated how stronger alignment between these systems can improve public services and lead to better outcomes for individuals, enterprises and public administration. You can watch the recording and read the learning brief here.
Social protection systems interacting with employment systems
The 8th Interoperability in Action workshop focused on interoperability between Employment Systems and Social Protection Systems, showcasing the benefits of interoperability through use cases, live demonstrations of some use cases, and perspectives from global organizations and countries. Stay tuned for the recording to be published on the event page.
Country support
Country focus: Zambia
DCI, through the ILO, is supporting the transformation of Zambia’s social protection systems into a modern, interoperable, and inclusive digital ecosystem. Recent milestones include a study mission to Nepal that offered hands-on lessons for NHIMA’s transition to the open-source openIMIS platform, intensive capacity-building training at the ILO’s Turin Centre, and comprehensive business process and MIS diagnostics that mapped out priority integration needs. With interoperability roadmaps now developed for key institutions and technical preparations underway for system customization, the next phase will focus on adapting openIMIS for Zambia, developing APIs for seamless data exchange, and boosting citizen awareness to ensure inclusive and trusted digital services.
Helpdesk focus: Socia Protection for Women in the MENA Region
Capacity development
Training on Digital Transformation and Interoperability in Social Protection
From October 27-31, 2025, the first edition of the DCI International Training on Digital Transformation and Interoperability in Social Protection took place in Turin, Italy. Co-developed and delivered by the ILO and the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO), the course brought together 23 participants from Angola, Cameroon, Chile, The Gambia, Guinea, Kosovo, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Zambia, alongside representatives from FIAP, and the World Bank. Over five days, participants explored how to lead rights-based and inclusive digital transformation in social protection systems. Read the details here.
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