Empowering women in GovTech to scale inclusive digital public infrastructure

As governments increasingly adopt digital public infrastructure (DPI) to deliver services at scale, a critical question persists: who is shaping this transformation?

For the 155 women selected to participate as mentees and 53 selected mentors in the 2025 GovStack Women in GovTech Challenge (WiGTC), the answer was clear – they are.

The goal? To build inclusive, user-centric digital services – and in doing so, reshape the future of digital governance.

As countries race to digitalize public services, global conversations around governance, trust and equity have made it clear: who builds infrastructure determines how inclusive and effective it will be.

Digital public infrastructure, or DPI, refers to the foundational systems, such as digital identity, payment platforms and data exchange layers, that enable governments to deliver services at scale. These systems increasingly shape how people access healthcare, education, justice and economic opportunity.

But infrastructure is never neutral. The design of digital systems determines who benefits, who is excluded and how individuals experience the state.

Without deliberate attention to inclusion, technology risks reinforcing or amplifying structural inequalities. The GovStack Women in GovTech Challenge was created to address this issue by equipping women to take leading roles in digital governance, as designers, decision-makers and builders of future systems.

The programme centres women’s lived experiences and technical capacities, connecting them across borders to co-create services that reflect local realities while aligning with global standards.

GovStack, a multistakeholder initiative led by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ, implemented by GIZ), EstDev and ITU conducted the second Women in GovTech Challenge in partnership with the World Bank, DPI Safeguards Initiative, alongside academic partners TalTech and Coursera, and brought together women from more than 50 countries for a six-week immersive learning and mentorship journey.

Each week of the challenge blended technical knowledge with applied practice. Participants explored service design, interoperability, data protection and artificial intelligence (AI) in government, then translated them into real-world digital prototypes through six weeks of lectures and three virtual networking sessions that saw many inspiring leaders from the World Bank, Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA), the World Economic Forum and many others take out time to speak to the participants.

The standout solutions showcased at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2025 demonstrate the power of contextual design. These were:

Each prototype followed GovStack specifications – modular, open-source building blocks designed to ensure interoperability, security and scalability across government services – and embedded digital public infrastructure safeguards, combining interoperability with inclusion.

While knowledge was essential, mentorship proved critical in turning insight into impact. Each participant was matched with a mentor and supported by facilitators, forming multidisciplinary teams that reflected the collaborative nature of digital transformation. This structure enabled cross-sectoral learning between public servants, software engineers, designers and policy researchers.

Mentors from 30 countries, including Ukraine, India, Kenya and Peru shared practical insights from their work in digital public infrastructure. Their guidance helped mentees strengthen both their technical confidence and their sense of agency in shaping digital policy and systems.

“The cohort had a unique energy,” one mentor shared. “I loved seeing mentees gain confidence in the digital government space week after week.”

Here’s what the numbers say:

Yet the true impact is not in numbers alone. Participants reported a boost in professional confidence, clarity about their career path in GovTech, and a deeper understanding of how to build systems for people, not just users.

Many also emphasized how the challenge deepened their awareness of digital public infrastructure as a tool for public value, particularly through exposure to DPI safeguards and real-world case studies. Peer exchange, mentorship and structured team collaboration helped translate technical learning into applied leadership, strengthening their ability to shape inclusive digital ecosystems in their own countries.

The global nature of this exchange was reinforced during networking sessions where partners such as the World Economic Forum engaged in discussions on GovTech and digital public infrastructure, underscoring the shared momentum and need for building inclusive digital public infrastructure.

The GovStack Women in GovTech Challenge has grown into a dynamic, global community committed to inclusive digital transformation.

Building on the success of the 2023-2024 cohort, where several alumni advanced into leadership roles and advocated for GovStack principles in their institutions, the 2025 edition introduced two long-term initiatives: the WiGTC Alumni Network and the GovStack Women in GovTech Ambassadors Programme.

The alumni network strengthens cross-border connections and encourages continued collaboration on DPI. It also offers a space for former participants to share experiences, contribute to ongoing projects and stay engaged with evolving digital governance agendas.

The Ambassador’s Programme was launched at the WSIS 2025 Digital Leaders Forum in Geneva to support and encourage the alumni community who are actively shaping digital public infrastructure in their countries and regions.

These GovStack Women in GovTech ambassadors are prominent women leaders who come from governments, multilateral institutions and the wider GovTech ecosystem like the World Economic Forum. Over the coming year, they will help amplify the voices of the alumni women in digital governance and promote inclusive and community-driven approaches to technology.

These initiatives ensure that the values of inclusion, collaboration and leadership extend far beyond the programme’s timeline ­­– and continue to shape digital governance long after the challenge concludes.

The 2025 GovStack Women in GovTech Challenge highlights a crucial truth: digital transformation succeeds when it is guided by those who understand the people it is meant to serve.

Women leading in this space bring perspectives that shape digital public infrastructure to be more inclusive, more grounded in lived realities and more capable of addressing complex societal needs.

As digital governance expands across regions and sectors, it is essential to focus not just on the tools being built, but on the people behind them. Who is making decisions? Whose priorities are reflected in the design? These questions will define the future of digital public services.

Inclusion is not a feature to be added later. It is a starting point – essential to building systems that are sustainable, trusted and capable of delivering public value.