The 50-in-5 campaign, supported by the United Nations and the Gates Foundation, has awarded Benin, Brazil and Indonesia for the expansion of digital public infrastructure. The awards honor digital identity, government online services and networked payment systems – building blocks of an initiative that aims to accelerate at least one such part of infrastructure in 50 countries by 2028.
Three countries, three award-winning approaches
Benin received the Impact Award despite the fact that the country had only joined the campaign in June 2026. The award was given to the initiative “From Identity to Inclusion: Building a Connected Digital Nation”. According to the government, almost 13.75 million people – around 99 percent of the population – were digitally registered. The project combines a digital identity with a national platform for data exchange between public authorities and digital public services. In its press release from the Beninese government, the government presented these three elements as the basis of an integrated digital ecosystem.
Marc-Andre Loko, Director General of the Beninese Agency for Information Systems and Digital Technology, emphasized at the award ceremony that people only use such systems if they are easy to use and have confidence in the protection of their data. According to Loko, technology can only spread if trust also grows. He was referring to a central prerequisite for the use of the infrastructure, the expansion of which is being driven forward by the campaign.
Brazil’s Minister of Management and Innovation in the Public Service, Esther Dweck, received the award for leadership contributions. Their commitment to digital public infrastructure such as GOV.BR and PIX was recognized. According to the justification for the award, these systems had helped to reach affected communities after floods with emergency aid within six days. Dweck’s commitment to international cooperation within the framework of the G20 was also mentioned. PIX is Brazil’s fast payment system powered by the Brazilian payment system PIX.
Dweck described the combination of the national identity card with GOV.BR and CONECTA.GOV.BR as building a sovereign digital public infrastructure. Public services could become increasingly proactive as a result; Inclusion, accessibility, data protection and trust must be at the center, she said.
Indonesia’s central bank received the prize for cooperation. The award was given to QRIS Cross-Border, an initiative that, according to the organisers, was developed together with regional partners. It enables cross-border transactions and supports more than 45.3 million businesses in seven countries. 96 percent of these are micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Bank Indonesia’s Deputy Governor, Filianingsih Hendarta, highlighted more efficient, more accessible, and more transparent payments, as well as new opportunities for smaller businesses, as goals.
Prices as a driver for the expansion
The awards are part of the 50-in-5 Digital Public Infrastructure Campaign, which launched in November 2023. It aims to accelerate at least one component of digital identity, digital payment systems or data exchange in 50 countries by 2028. In addition to payments and data connections, digital identity is therefore explicitly a core area of the project. In September, Italy became the 40th country to join the initiative; the award ceremony took place on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
The campaign awards prizes for impact, collaboration and individual leadership contributions. The Impact Award includes reach, growth, security and inclusion. The Collaboration Award evaluates common technologies, interoperability – the ability of different systems to work together – security, and actual results. The individual prize focuses on knowledge exchange, commitment and leadership in cooperation. The campaign’s awards are not only intended to honour individuals, but also to determine which results and characteristics are considered success in the dissemination of digital infrastructure.
The prizes for digital public infrastructure go to governments and individuals. The campaign describes itself as supported by states. However, it is organized by a network of international institutions and foundations: These include the Gates Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme, the Digital Public Goods Alliance, the Center for Digital Public Infrastructure and Co-Develop. GovStack, the Inter-American Development Bank and UNICEF support the initiative.
A dense network of foundations and organizations
The Center for Digital Public Infrastructure is supported by Co-Develop and Nilekani Philanthropies. Co-Develop, in turn, was founded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Nilekani Philanthropies and the Omidyar Network. The Omidyar Network also funds MOSIPs. In its roadmap for activities to promote digital public goods, the Digital Public Goods Alliance lists both the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations, as well as other organizations and several governments.
The documented connections show that the campaign is embedded in a close network of donors and partner organisations. Its declared objective is to accelerate the expansion of digital public infrastructure in the participating countries. A critical assessment of the campaign identifies this network as the driving force behind the global spread of digital identities and programmable digital currencies; this rating is an assessment, not one of the price justifications mentioned.
The timeline underlines the claim: 50-in-5 started with the goal of making progress in 50 countries by 2028 and announced the accession of the 40th country in September, Italy. Previous reports have covered the launch of the campaign, its reach to 30 countries, and the planned expansion to 50 countries. The UN and Gates campaign at the UN General Assembly, the announcement of the accession of 30 countries, the report on the launch of the campaign and the presentation of the target for 2028 document this development. In addition, an earlier report refers to the adoption of the UN “Pact for the Future”, in which member states agreed on digital identity.
The award ceremony makes visible which specific systems 50-in-5 wants to promote: digital identities, state platforms and networked payments. Benin’s reported registration of around 99 percent of the population and the reach of the Indonesian payment system stand for the results highlighted by the campaign – and for the far-reaching expansion it wants to drive forward by 2028.
