Data is a resource that is remaking politics and markets in East Africa and beyond. This project organised a network of parties interested in the wide range of opportunities and risks that have been created as a result of the use of digital data (and associated trends in artificial intelligence and machine learning) in African contexts.

We examined the possibilities for socio-economic, political and cultural transformations on the continent, as well as the risks associated with digital data, its use, and the lack of proper oversight. 

We hosted a series of workshops bringing together leading practitioners and analysts, on topics including:

• Data + Economy
• Data + Regulation
• Data + Money
• Data + Labour
• Data + Identity
• Data + Equity
• Data + Elections
• Data + Covid

For recordings, please see the collection here.

In addition, we created a series of brief animations explaining key concerns around digital data in East Africa:

• Right to Privacy in East Africa
• Micro-targeting and Politics
• Data Protection in East Africa

For reflections on these topics, please see the posts of team members and our Twitter account. 

The Developing Data? project ran from 2020-2021 and was organised by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), Strathmore University’s Centre of Intellectual Property & Information Technology (CIPIT), and the University of Edinburgh’s Centre of African Studies (CAS).

Thanks to the GCRF Digital Innovations for Development in Africa program for supporting this initiative.