Expression of Interest: Countries to take part in national testing of a digital health investment taxonomy

Governments are increasingly investing in digital health to accelerate progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC). However, many countries face challenges in clearly identifying how much is being invested, where resources are concentrated, and how to prioritise investments to maximise impact. Fragmented funding and the absence of standardised investment categories can limit coordination, strategic planning and accountability.

To address this, Transform Health, UNICEF, OECD, the World Bank and the Global Fund are developing a Digital Health Investment Taxonomy. The taxonomy provides a common framework for categorising and tracking digital health investments across stakeholders and funding sources. It is designed to support governments in strengthening budgeting, planning, coordination and resource mobilisation.

Following an extensive landscape scoping review, expert consultations and stakeholder engagement, a draft taxonomy has been developed. The next phase is to test its practical applicability at national level, particularly in the context of:

• • National or sub-national health budgeting processes
  • Costing of digital health strategies, roadmaps or blueprints
  • Retrospective analysis of existing digital health investment portfolios or budgets

A limited number of countries will be selected to participate in this national testing phase.

Why participate?

Selected countries will receive:

• • No-cost technical support with digital health investment planning and budgeting
  • A structured mapping of digital health investments across budgets and/or strategies, including identification of funding gaps, overlaps and priority areas
  • A concise country summary report that can be used to:
    • Strengthen engagement with Ministries of Finance
    • Support resource mobilisation discussions with development partners
    • Improve coordination across programmes and funders
  • Opportunity to shape and influence a global taxonomy for digital health investment.
  • Recognition as an early contributor to global learning on digital health investment.

Participation is designed to align with existing national processes and requires minimal additional time commitment from participating countries.

Who should apply?

Countries that would benefit most include those that:

• • Are developing or updating a national/sub-national digital health strategy or costed plan
  • Are entering or currently undertaking a budgeting cycle (at national or sub-national level)
  • Have recently completed budgeting or strategy development processes and would value a retrospective analysis to inform future planning
  • Seek to strengthen coordination across multiple digital health funders
  • Wish to improve the evidence base for prioritisation and resource mobilisation
  • Can designate a government focal point to coordinate the exercise

What participation involves

Transform Health will:

• • Review relevant budget documents and/or digital health strategies
  • Map funding areas to taxonomy categories
  • Conduct limited interviews with key government and other national stakeholders
  • Produce a summary analysis with recommendations

There are no financial costs to participating countries.

Submitting an Expression of Interest

A government representative with the mandate to serve as focal point should express interest by 13 March 2026 through email to: Ndifani Namacha, ndifanji.namacha@transformhealthcoalition.org 

Transform Health will follow up with interested countries to discuss feasibility, timelines and next steps.

Transform Health is a global coalition of more than 215 organisations dedicated to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030 by harnessing digital technology and the use of data. We bring partners and networks together, leveraging our shared experience and expertise, to shape policy agendas, influence decision makers, develop tools, provide technical support to governments and others, and conduct research and analysis to deliver health for all in the digital age.