Leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure to Deliver Nationwide Conditional Cash Transfers for Training Provision

As the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to push millions of people globally into extreme poverty, many countries worldwide, including the G20 countries, heightened their efforts to expand cash transfer and economic empowerment programs to cushion the impact of the pandemic. The surge in demand for both these programs put a tremendous strain on the pre-existing social protection programs. This Policy Brief highlights the lessons learned from Indonesia’s Kartu Prakerja Program as a case of leveraging digital public infrastructure (DPI) as a ‘technofix’ to deliver nationwide conditional cash transfers (CCT) for training provision. The authors propose a new use for DPI in G20 countries through API integration for various systems to support cash transfers, including verification with biometrics and KYC, data exchange, and payment disbursement. DPI can ensure CCTs are delivered fast, on a large scale, and to the right people, in an inclusive and secure manner.