The essence of public-private partnership in the era of modern technologies and innovations

Abstract

The digitalisation of infrastructure — data centres, broadband networks, energy storage and artificial-intelligence computing — is changing what public-private partnership (PPP) is for and how it must be designed. Using document and comparative-institutional analysis and descriptive statistics (World Bank PPI 2023–2024, Global Infrastructure Hub, UK PFI/PF2, EPEC broadband cases, Uzbekistan's PPP registry for Q1 2026), the paper shows that private participation in infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries rose by 15.6% to USD 100.7 billion in 2024; that 89.7% of the USD 547.2 million of new PPP agreements signed in Uzbekistan in Q1 2026 fall on energy and transport; and that 85 of 193 monitored projects had inactive or liquidated private partners. A three-layer model of digital-era PPP and five design principles are proposed.