GovStack is an international initiative founded in 2020 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Government of Estonia, Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and GIZ, and the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL). The initiative was created to prove that e-government infrastructure doesn't have to be expensive to build and maintain—or complicated to use—for civil servants or citizens.
The initiative creates a common framework and technical practice for developing reusable and interoperable digital components—called "building blocks"—needed for the digital transformation of government. Through this approach, governments can easily create or modify their digital platforms, services, and applications while simplifying cost, time, and resource requirements. GovStack publishes GovSpecs with 14 reference use cases and 12 building block specifications.
GovStack focuses on enabling countries to kickstart their digital transformation journey by adopting, deploying, and scaling digital government services. The initiative offers products and services designed to help effectively scale digital transformation efforts worldwide, with implementations underway in Somalia, Kenya, and other countries. By providing modular building blocks that work across government ministries, GovStack addresses the challenge many governments face in adopting whole-of-government approaches due to budget constraints, coordination difficulties, and siloed investments.