December Digital Matters

Digital Matters was launched in January 2023 guided by the belief that building and managing open, inclusive, and trusted digital tools to help meet societal problems is an urgent and collaborative effort. For the past two years, the Digital Impact and Governance Initiative at New America has rounded up notable uses of tech with a human-centric lens to explore burning questions about the interconnected issues affecting digital public infrastructure (DPI).

When we published our first editions of Digital Matters, Twitter was still Twitter, the metaverse was a buzzword on the rise, and ChatGPT was novel and free. Shared global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, system failures, and natural disasters were generating sustained interest in digital transformation efforts. Civic tech optimism was driving new commitments and dialogue, including coordinated efforts around tech policy through the Summit for Democracy, a search for common ground on privacy and safety concerns, and calls for modernizing government.

Challenges in the tech space persist around inadequate regulatory and legal environments, limited capacity, overdue procurement reform, and stagnant efforts toward a comprehensive approach to privacy and human rights. Polarization, vested interests, and sovereignty concerns continue to impact effective collaborations, and trusted cross-sector solutions often feel out of reach. But alongside known challenges, rapid change can also create transformative opportunities. Which leads us to wrap up 2024 Digital Matters with three big questions on the horizon for 2025 and beyond.

How will the promise of DPI evolve with a greater focus on implementation?

DPI continues to gain global traction as a cohesive approach to digital transformation; its value lies in offering a blend of tech and governance as a public good that individuals and organizations can use to build solutions across any sector. In 2023, work revolved around defining DPI concepts and securing investment and funding commitments. Since then, significant progress has been made in mainstreaming DPI with the adoption of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) and the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework, inclusion on the G20 and G7 agendas, and the convening of the Global DPI Summit in Cairo.

Looking ahead, the focus for a number of countries is on advancing and scaling implementation of new and ongoing DPI projects. Work in the DPI sphere is centering on meaningful safeguards, risk mitigation, governance, community-driven solutions, and inclusivity. As DPI solutions multiply, it is important to reinforce and build the ecosystems in which they operate and measure their impact, especially around economic opportunities. But it remains to be seen whether countries will have the resources, leadership, and capacity needed to put the GDC principles into action.

We expect many of the first mover countries, UN bodies, funders, and multilateral initiatives to continue pushing for DPI adoption. It appears South Africa will keep promoting the DPI agenda as it assumes the G20 presidency. But it is unclear how the United States under the incoming administration will approach digital transformation efforts in global forums; perhaps it will focus on national security concerns and cybersecurity.

Finally, a key area for further exploration is connecting a DPI approach with aspects of artificial intelligence development. Given the inherent overlaps with data sharing infrastructures, linking the two concepts can help frame the AI debate in terms of public interest and keep the emphasis on the human users.

What role will users play in demanding accountability and safety from AI-powered solutions?

The proliferation of publicly available AI tools has invigorated a public reckoning on what technology means for the future of humanity.

Over the past two years, we have tracked the Bletchley Declaration on AI Safety prioritizing ​​human-centric design, human rights and fundamental freedoms, and bridging the digital divide; the G7’s guiding principles for AI governance; the multistakeholder convenings by the UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence; and most recently, the European Union’s AI Act. In the United States, the Biden Administration’s Executive Order on AI has tried to strike a balance between innovation and regulation, while U.S. Congress members have introduced legislation to inject transparency and accountability into “high-impact” AI systems. It is unclear how these U.S. efforts may fare in 2025.

It may be too much to hope that efforts to govern AI development and use will coalesce into a solidified global approach to data and privacy preservation in the coming year.

There is also room, however, to believe users could serve as an effective voice for reforms. In the wake of the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, the current backlash against corporate greed and healthcare failures — which some critics say are facilitated by the company’s use of AI algorithms to assess insurance coverage — suggests more broadly that users negatively affected by AI-driven tools could demand greater corporate accountability. This and other events may have wide-ranging implications, from effective disclosure standards and assessments of corporate business models to greater voluntary transparency measures by the private sector.

As society remains intrigued about the potential advancements AI could bring to everything from cancer treatments to agriculture efficiencies to cyber resilience, passionate debates within and among the tech industry, civil society, and government institutions are sure to continue to explore and define equitable, inclusive, and safe AI development and governance.

What are the bright spots and efforts considered indicators of progress toward a healthier digital future?

Almost every edition of Digital Matters spotlights projects and programs that leverage tech as a tool to help people and communities. In addition to high-level progress in the DPI and AI spaces, we also celebrate the more localized effort, proofs of concept, and digital public goods that stand out in bridging digital gaps and strengthening access to services.

For example, a 2023 Switzerland law requires that all government software be open source, modeling a “public money, public code” approach to government operations. Researching models to implement open solutions could have a significant impact on public procurement and other efforts to improve government tech capacity and outcomes.

More likely than a wholesale approach to open source code in the coming years could be a federal position or agency akin to Australia’s eSafety program or Denmark’s Ministry of Digital Affairs empowered to coordinate the many pieces of a comprehensive tech policy. Most recently, Australia reaffirmed its commitment to online safety by issuing a ban on social media for children under 16. Meanwhile, Denmark convened the Digital Nine + Ministerial, hosting digital ministers from across Europe to discuss online safety, the EU digital wallet, and other issues. In an ambitious challenge to big tech’s control of personal data, each EU member state will offer at least one interoperable EU Digital Identity Wallet by 2026, built to the same common specifications and designed to give users more control over their digital ID verification and usage.

The past few years have also proven that resilience of government services is possible in turbulent times. More than 21 million Ukrainians are using the Diia app and its built-in digital ID storage to access public services on their phones, for everything from securing marriage licenses to opening businesses, filing taxes, applying for reconstruction resources, and much more. Diia is open source. Amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukraine’s public and private sectors continue to develop digital tools that merit more interest and resources.

And finally, as we round out a roller-coaster ride of a year, we are continuing to think about the future of the internet, digital credentials, interoperability, and social media used for everything from conducting commerce to accessing services. The recent uptick of millions of Bluesky users in the wake of the U.S. presidential election is of note. Putting aside the feasibility of serving as a sustainable addition to the social media space, it points to the fact that users want options — and that is a good thing for a competitive and diverse ecosystem.

Looking forward: Digital governance still matters

We remain hopeful that a more intentional and positive vision for our shared digital future will continue to emerge both here at home and around the world — a vision with clear guardrails, effective policy agendas, and the engagement of a wide spectrum of voices across both digital and physical spaces.

A big note of thanks to the many public interest technologists who helped with Digital Matters research and production over the past two years, especially Alberto Alvarez Rodriguez, Summer Boucher-Robinson, Daniela Flores, Sarah Forland, and Rowan Humphries.