About Us

Mission & Vision

The Initiative for Digital Public Interest envisions a world in which digital transformation protects and promotes human rights, advances social justice, and serves the full participation, agency and dignity of all people.
Our mission is to infuse the development of digital public infrastructure with robust engagement by globally diverse, informed, and well-resourced public interest and grassroots stakeholder communities. Through engagement with state and non-state actors, IDPI seeks to build the discourse, policy and practice of digital transformation around the lived reality of the communities who stand the most to lose from being left out of decision-making, sidelined by structural disadvantages, dismissed or ignored as digital public infrastructure (DPI) projects launch and mature. IDPI is focused on supporting thepractical realization of principles of equity and inclusion in digital transformation.

Our Story

IDPI is a collaborative working to center public interest in digital projects. We started as a multi-stakeholder collaboration of experts concerned about public digital transformation that did not incorporate human rights, rule of law and social justice. Since its inception in 2021, IDPI has worked to elevate the voice of key advocates and thinkers, build and consolidate an evidence base, and support investigatory work that translates into action and accountability.

How we work

Funding

We fund people, community-based groups, and civil society organizations working with community members, clients, and constituencies on digital public interest advocacy

Collaboration

We spark transnational collaboration and knowledge-sharing across stakeholders, disciplines, sectors, and geographies.

Sponsorship

We sponsor research and litigation by grassroots, community, and national stakeholders, in their local and national contexts and in coalition, at the most critical moments in the design and implementation of digital identity systems and integrated DPI projects.

Support

We amplify and support key voices in digital public interest advocacy to maximize their impact in government-led public and private consultation processes as well as engagement within their own networks and coalitions.

Governance

IDPI is a Sponsored Project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Its work is overseen by an Advisory Committee with the following members:

Elizabeth Eagen

Deputy Director, CAT Lab, Cornell University

Ibrahima Kane

Senior Program Advisor, Open Society Foundations

Laura Bingham

Executive Director, Institute for Law, Innovation and Technology, Temple University

Monica Greco

Senior Program Officer, Open Society Foundations

Nora Mbagathi

Senior Lawyer, Open Society Justice Initiative

Yaye Ndiaye

Executive Director, KITAMBAA

Chase Jaz

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (Observer)

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