---
id: "prereq-digital-public-infrastructure"
type: "prereq"
source_timestamps: ["§ Break Outs"]
tags: ["payments", "emerging-markets"]
related: ["concept-digital-public-infrastructure", "entity-upi"]
reason: "Needed to understand why 'Break Out' economies are experiencing such rapid momentum without traditional PC-era infrastructure."
sources: ["futures"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-futures"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-foci-75-fragmenting-digital-economy"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/what-a-fragmenting-digital-economy-means-for-global-competition"
sourceTitle: "What a Fragmenting Digital Economy Means for Global Competition"
---
# Familiarity with Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)

**Prerequisite:** familiarity with how **state-backed, open-API payment rails** ([[concept-digital-public-infrastructure]]) function to accelerate private-sector app development. The source references systems like India's [[entity-upi]] and Thailand's [[entity-promptpay]] without fully explaining their underlying mechanics.

**Why it matters:** it is the key to understanding why [[concept-break-outs]] economies achieve such rapid [[concept-digital-momentum]] *without* traditional PC-era infrastructure — they leapfrog straight to mobile-first, interoperable rails.