About us

Who we are

The Digital Health Centre of Excellence (DICE) is a multi-agency consortium co-led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It was established in 2021 as the field-facing support mechanism for UNICEF’s Digital Health & Information Systems unit and WHO’s Digital Health and Innovation Department. 

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DICE works to improve donor coordination, ensure alignment with the Digital Investment Principles, guide investments into Digital Public Goods and Global Goods, and provide targeted technical assistance and quality assurance to countries. 

The centre works through existing UNICEF and WHO regional and country structures, bolstering the capacity to identify, develop, and scale digital solutions in support of national health priorities. ​Its goal is to make health services, such as vaccines, maternal and child health, and nutrition, more equitable and attainable through a data-driven approach and by harnessing the power of sustainable and scalable digital health solutions. 

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How we work

DICE provides coordinated technical assistance to countries to support the sustainable and scalable deployment of carefully chosen and mature digital health solutions to issues such as the planning and distribution of medicines and vaccines, service delivery and supply management, epidemiological surveillance and case detection, monitoring coverage of service uptake, training of health workers, and others.  

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DICE provides coordinated technical assistance to countries to support the sustainable and scalable deployment of carefully chosen and mature digital health solutions to issues such as the planning and distribution of medicines and vaccines, service delivery and supply management, epidemiological surveillance and case detection, monitoring coverage of service uptake, training of health workers, and others.  

DICE can also support coordination between donors and development partners at the regional and global levels. Although DICE is not a funding mechanism, it can also align with donor agencies and support governments to identify and apply for funding using costed investment cases (e.g. via the Global Fund C19RMglobal or other in-country resources). ​DICE's technical assistance is provided through existing regional and country structures and a roster of technical experts. 

Our priority areas

Our principles

• Demand-driven: Prioritizing country support that aligns with needs outlined in the National Deployment and Vaccination Plans (NDVPs) and digital health plans

• Agile: Establishing contracting mechanisms with approved vendors and technical experts to allow for a rapid response to country priorities

• Sustainable: Supporting governments to use existing systems and resources to deploy cost-effective digital solutions, which later can be expanded and integrated into the health management information system.

• Secure: Safeguarding the global principles of digital development by only endorsing digital platforms that apply acceptable security standards for patient privacy and cyber security.

• Capacity building: Providing guidance and technical assistance to governments on digital health investments, including vendor selection, platform set-up, training and maintenance

Our Members