Freedom Online Coalition’s Principles on Rights-Respecting Digital Public Infrastructure – Pre 11 2025

12 May 2025 | 13:00 - 14:15 CEST | Room 8
Consolidated programme 2025

Session teaser

The Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) has identified rights-respecting DPI as a crucial tool for digital inclusion, an agenda to be advanced during the Estonian Chairship in 2025. The FOC has been engaging in regional stakeholder outreach to gather input on the principles, and now invite European stakeholders to join this session to present their feedback.

Session description

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) are digital technologies that can enable the delivery of public services. There are three functional categories of DPI: digital identity systems, digital payment systems, and data exchanges. It is crucial for such systems to have built in safeguards that ensure human rights commitments are adhered to in their design and implementation. During the session, we want to hear perspectives from the community on how the design and implementation of DPI can balance the benefits of digital innovation with the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms. Whether through examples of successful approaches or lessons learned. We will explore the most critical safeguards that should be in place to prevent DPI from exacerbating discrimination, exclusion, or other human rights harms. We also seek to discuss how governments, civil society, the private sector and technical experts can collaborate to ensure accountability within DPI processes and how these can include access to redress. Lastly, we invite EuroDIG participants to look ahead and provide suggestions on the emerging risks and opportunities that stakeholders, especially governments, should anticipate as DPI continues to evolve, and what steps can be taken to proactively start addressing the potential human rights challenges on the horizon.

Format

The FOC envisions an open and interactive forum for dialogue wherein the High-Level Principles will first be presented by the government of Estonia for 15 minutes. In the next 45 minutes, participants will be divided into different groups where they will discuss specific principles. The last 15 minutes will see the groups reconvene in plenary and present their input to the full group.

Further reading

• Freedom Online Coalition’s Digital Public Infrastructure Principles

People

Key participants:

Opening Remarks

• Rasmus Lumi, Director General of the Department of International Organizations and Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
• Lea Kaspar, Global Partners Digital / Freedom Online Coalition Support Unit

Transcript

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Transcript, session report and additional details will be provided by the Geneva Internet Platform shortly after the session took place.