Finance ministries must think about digital public infrastructure as they do roads and power grids by Diane Coyle, David Eaves, Beatriz Vasconcellos published by IMF/Blog (3/2026).
“A government wouldn’t build a dozen roads connecting the same two places. But this happens often with digital services. Coun tries allocate billions to IT spending without realizing the need to treat these systems as shared infrastructure. This siloed approach frag ments systems, making it harder to share or lever age data among public agencies and with the private sector.
What if we treated a set of core digital systems— such as digital IDs, payments, data exchange plat forms, credentials, and other shared services that drive core functions across government and the economy—the same way we treat roads or power grids? As essential, long-term, shared systems designed for repeated use…”