The Digital Convergence Initiative (DCI) is thrilled to present its first publication: a guide on applying the Principles for Digital Development for the social protection sector. The goal of this paper is to use the Digital Principles to create a common foundation for the development of digital solutions in social protection.
What is the challenge?
Social protection information systems have enormous potential to help people in need. However, if they are designed or implemented improperly, they can be risky, especially for vulnerable individuals. Therefore, it is crucial to consider and address these risks appropriately.
In other sectors, experts have developed “principles” or “good practices” to ensure that digital technologies are inclusive, secure, rights-based, and purpose-driven. These principles have been helpful in mitigating risks related to the creation and deployment of digital technologies. As a result, more inclusive and secure digital systems that meet the needs and rights of society have emerged.
The Digital Convergence Initiative recognized these efforts and aimed to consolidate existing guidance to develop consensus-based principles for building inclusive and robust digital social protection systems. They drew on the experiences and practices of other sectors to inform these principles, hoping to ensure that digital social protection systems in future are secure, rights-based, inclusive, and purpose-driven.
To achieve consensus on standards and best practices for digital social protection systems, the Digital Convergence Initiative (DCI) aims to build on existing frameworks rather than reinvent the wheel. Therefore, the broad-ranging Principles for Digital Development were used as the basis.
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