Digital Utilities

Digital Utilities

Supporting urban resilience in low- and middle-income countries by enabling access to essential utility services through digital solutions and innovative partnerships

Our mission is to enable access to affordable, reliable, safe and sustainable urban utility services through digital solutions and innovative partnerships. Inclusive utility services, such as energy, water, sanitation, waste management and transport support urban resilience, which allows cities in low- and middle-income countries to better withstand challenges related to population growth, climate change, and inequality.

The Digital Utilities programme enables digital solutions and partnerships between innovators, mobile operators, government providers of utility services. To achieve our objectives, the programme engages in:

  • De-risking and catalysing innovative urban utility services;
  • Research and insights;
  • Partnership facilitation and convening of key ecosystem stakeholders; and
  • Technical advice to mobile operators, municipalities, and utility service providers.
Explore what we do 
Latest Publications

The GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services: Portfolio overview

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Wednesday 3 May 2023 | Climate | ClimateTech | Digital Utilities | Energy | English | Innovation fund and grants | partnership-hub | Private-Public | Public-Private | Report | Resilient technology | South Asia | Sub-Saharan Africa | Water |

This catalogue profiles the nine organisations accepted into The GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services cohort, as well as insights from an analysis of all pitches received.

Powering Mobility: The rise of digital transportation in Africa

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Thursday 13 Apr 2023 | Digital Utilities | English | Private-Public | Public-Private | Report | Sub-Saharan Africa | Transportation and mobility |

This report outlines the landscape of the transport sector in African cities and the opportunity of digital innovation in transforming the sector.

IoT and Essential Utility Services: Opportunities in low- and middle-income countries

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Wednesday 26 Apr 2023 | Case study | Digital Utilities | Energy | English | Private-MNO | Private-Public | Public-Private | Report | Sanitation | South Asia | Sub-Saharan Africa | Water |

This report reviews the extent to which 17 key IoT utilities-focused use cases have been deployed across five markets. It assesses the state and maturity of deployments in India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, and Nigeria.

IoT for Development: Use cases delivering impact

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Wednesday 1 Feb 2023 | Climate | Digital Utilities | East Asia and Pacific | Energy | English | Health | Mobile access and use | Mobile health | Report | Sanitation | South Asia | Sub-Saharan Africa | Water |

This report outlines the opportunities IoT solutions present for achieving development outcomes in LMICs.

Latest News

This initiative is currently funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and supported by the GSMA and its members.
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