On April 22, Bogota was the setting for the National Multisectoral Meeting on the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) ecosystem in Colombia, a session convened by Cepei, ILDA and Open Data Charter, with the support of Co-Develop, within the framework of the project “Strengthening Civil Society Organizations in the DPI Ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
The activity took place one day after the first regional workshop of the project and broadened the conversation to all the sectors involved in the development of DPI in the country.
The meeting brought together, over a full day of work, representatives from civil society, the public sector, the private sector and academia, with the aim of fostering a meaningful space for dialogue on the progress, challenges and opportunities that Colombia currently faces in the deployment of DPI.
A view from Colombia on the regional landscape
The day opened with a panel dedicated to the regional and global context of DPI, which brought together perspectives from public institutions, the central bank, international cooperation and regional organizations that are currently engaged in the DPI conversation in Latin America.
The dialogue made it possible to place the Colombian experience in connection with the trends that shape the regional agenda, and raised questions about the principles, institutional conditions and governance mechanisms required to move towards a sustainable DPI.
Collective reflections on governance and the ecosystem
During the morning, participants took part in a workshop on DPI governance, which addressed issues related to guiding principles, sustainability, financing and citizen participation mechanisms. The conversation revealed points of convergence among the different sectors, as well as tensions that are characteristic of an ecosystem still taking shape.
In the afternoon, the work focused on a collective mapping exercise of the DPI ecosystem in Colombia, with particular attention to the three pillars that structure the conversation in the country today: digital identity, digital payment systems and data exchange. The activity made it possible to identify actors, initiatives and spaces for coordination, and to surface the gaps and opportunities that exist to strengthen the governance of the ecosystem from a multisectoral perspective.
The meeting closed with a joint reflection on the learnings of the day and on the paths that open up from it. The inputs gathered will feed into the upcoming activities of the project and will serve as a basis to continue building, from Colombia, an agenda that contributes to the democratic governance of DPI in the region.
In the coming months, new spaces for dialogue will be developed, both national and regional, which will give continuity to the work initiated in Bogotá and will broaden the conversation to other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.