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As part of their membership, Bangladesh plans to introduce DPGs into their country’s digital public infrastructure. Two initiatives from the a2i Programme, Government of Bangladesh, and UNDP Bangladesh—ekShop and NISE— have been nominated as DPGs. ekShop, Bangladesh’s largest integrated assisted rural e-commerce platform, and national e-commerce infrastructure backbone; and the National Intelligence for Skills, Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship (NISE), a skills and job matchmaking platform. NISE is a one-stop data platform initiative that acts as a connecting bridge to bring stakeholders together to fulfil the needs of one another and subsequently make data driven decisions to stimulate industrial growth. This ensures effective data driven policy planning when it comes to the future of work. Launched in 2021, and supported by UNDP CDO, NISE has been replicated in Somalia in collaboration with the Ministry of Communication and Technology and UNDP Somalia and in Jordan in collaboration with Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship and UNDP Jordan with support from UNDP Crisis Bureau. ekShop has been replicated in Turkey to enable opportunities for refugees, and in Yemen and South Sudan to accelerate e-commerce growth and inclusion.
“Digital public goods cut down on the time and cost of transitioning government services from analogue to digital, playing a critical role in helping the Government of Bangladesh respond quickly to COVID, as well as several recent natural disasters.”
MR. ANIR CHOWDHURY, POLICY
Advisor, Aspire to Innovate (a2i)
Programme, Cabinet Division, ICT
Division, Government of Bangladesh
and UNDP Bangladesh
The South-South Network for Public Service Innovation (SSN4PSI) was proposed by the Honourable Prime Minister of the Government of Bangladesh, and UNDP Administrator in 2016. SSN4PSI is a collaborative platform where governments, private sector organisations, experts, and academics exchange knowledge, experiences, and expertise on public service innovation. The South-South model mirrors the unique value of digital public goods—that they are locally adaptable and therefore better suited to address country-specific and regional needs than out of the box proprietary technologies. The SSN4SPI currently has 45 members and has held 21 matchmaking workshops which aim to surface best practices. Bangladesh will use their platform via SSN4PSI to advocate for DPGs. a2i Programme has been providing technical support to the SSN4PSI and has been working to convert best practices related to e-governance into digital solutions.