Research ICT Africa

Yesterday, I had the privilege of presenting a working paper for the Research ICT Africa #JustAI project, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D). The paper dives into the profound implications of AI for children in Africa, a continent marked by both immense potential and complex challenges. AI can transform education, entertainment, and communication for children across Africa, providing unprecedented access to knowledge, resources, and global networks. In education, AI-powered platforms can bridge gaps in remote areas, offering personalised learning tools and virtual tutors, overcoming barriers like teacher shortages and lack of infrastructure. In entertainment, AI enables new forms of creative engagement, from smart toys to immersive gaming and social media experiences. However, as we harness the power of AI, we must also acknowledge its risks, especially for children, who are particularly vulnerable in the context of Africa's socio-economic disparities, historical legacies, and digital transformation. AI technologies often come with inherent biases, and if designed without consideration for African cultures and languages, they risk misrepresenting or sidelining the needs and rights of African children. More concerning, the extractive nature of AI development, especially through resource exploitation and data harvesting, mirrors colonial-era dynamics. As AI continues to evolve, we must ensure it is developed and deployed responsibly, prioritising the holistic health and well-being of African children. This includes addressing holistic health and well-being dimensions of their lives, especially considering the unique challenges faced by African children, such as conflict, poverty, and trauma. Furthermore, we must mitigate risks like exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and exploitation, risks that are exacerbated by AI-powered platforms in entertainment, education, and communication. This paper highlights the current landscape of AI usage in education, social media, online gaming, and smart toys in Africa, and explores the associated risks to children’s development. We also examine the emerging policies across African nations to regulate AI and the gaps that need to be addressed to protect children’s rights in an increasingly digital world. The future of AI in Africa should not only be about opportunity but also about responsibility, ensuring that AI serves to empower, rather than exploit, the children of this continent. Watch this space for the upcoming publication of the paper! #JustAIkids #AI #Africa #ChildRights #DigitalTransformation #AIForGood #PolicyDevelopment #AIEthics #InclusiveAI

I was thrilled to participate in a roundtable discussion organised by the Atlantic Council, where I had the opportunity to talk about how Africa navigates the geopolitics of AI. My talk touched on a strategic dialogue examining Africa's geopolitical position, its challenges in the global AI technological and political landscape, protecting African technological interests, access vs sovereignty and balancing AI progression with ethical and regulatory considerations for Africa. The workshop also consisted of a site visit to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and an insightful presentation by Microsoft where they shared the work they’ve been doing in Africa to promote responsible AI. The highlight of the three day workshop was connecting with so many passionate colleagues across Africa, making it one of the most enjoyable workshops I’ve attended in a while! Dr. Makaziwe Makamba, Bashira Hassan, PMP, Dr Jorjoh Ndure-Tambedou, PhD, Thoko Miya, Emsie Erastus, and Loise M..

EVENT | Internet Governance Forum 2024 | Lightning Talk #14 AI and Children in Africa: Key Concerns and Policy Insights ⚡ 🕓 18 December, 16:30 - 17:00 GMT+03 // 18:30 - 19:00 SAST 📍 Hybrid, Online: https://lnkd.in/dT2wp47b With AI becoming an integral part of children's lives, RIA Researchers Zara Schroeder, Diana Nyakundi, Jamie Ann Fuller & Jackie Akello will be responding to the subtheme 'Advancing human rights and inclusion in the digital age' by discussing key concerns and policy gaps on AI and Children. Looking at new forms of AI-driven children’s play and entertainment — including smart toys, online games and social media — this discussion will shed light on children's interaction with algorithms, their immersion into the digital world, and the protections that should be in place to ensure their safety, security, and privacy. Researchers will similarly reflect on platforms' effects on children’s health and development. This session will provide guiding principles and policies to consider when designing, developing and deploying AI-enabled tools that children interact with. To find out more, click the link below: #IGF2024 #MSHDigitalFuture https://lnkd.in/dA-fYgrA

EVENT | Internet Governance Forum 2024 | Workshop #225 Gender Inequality in Meaningful Access in the Global South 🧑🧑🧒🧒 🕓 18 December, 14:30 - 16:00 GMT+03 // 16:30 - 18:30 SAST 📍 Hybrid, Online: https://lnkd.in/dsGtxV_a Demand-side data shows that in addition to significant gender digital access gaps in the Global South, once online, women face heightened barriers to using the internet for purposes associated with economic benefits. Presenting data on digital access and use, RIA Researcher and After Access Economist Relebohile Mariti will evidence large gender inequalities in digital use cases, which are often limited to social media and entertainment applications. The panel discussion featuring key experts on the policy interventions needed to ensure women are equally able to benefit from digitalisation, is moderated by International Telecommunication Union's Martin Schaaper and After Access lead Andrew Partridge. It is envisioned that this will result in a set of key actions, which will allow more meaningful female participation in the digital economy. To hear the answers and find out more about the session, click the link below: https://lnkd.in/dhCWXj8m #IGF2024 #MSHDigitalFuture

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE | Internet Governance Forum ⏩ 15-19 December 📆 Hybrid / Riyadh, Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 📌 #IGF2024 #MSHDigitalFuture RIA Researchers will be in Riyadh this December to make their contributions to the IGF's multistakeholder discussions on a broad range of digital governance issues, from #cybersecurity and #meaningfulaccess to #dataprivacy and #artificialintelligence 🛩️. Presentations will be included under the subtheme 'Advancing human rights and inclusion in the digital age.' Further session details to follow soon. The United Nations IGF brings people together from various stakeholder groups to inform those with policymaking power in both the public and private sectors. It includes policy, outreach, community and capacity-building activities, all dedicated to facilitating a common understanding of how to maximise digital opportunities and address digital risks and challenges. 💻 "For digital governance to truly work, it must represent every voice. The #IGF2024 will convene all stakeholders to talk about the future of the internet and ensure human rights are respected." 🖇️ bit.ly/2024IGF #GlobalGoals

BLOG | Ramp index insights: Quarter 3, 2024 📡 🛜 Research ICT Africa’s Africa Mobile Pricing (RAMP) Index is a database comprising the lowest data and voice/SMS basket prices collected quarterly for each mobile operator in Africa. In Q3 of 2024, index insights present a summary of the cost of 1GB monthly data baskets as advertised by mobile network operators, demonstrating that Mauritiana, Ethiopia and Ghana stand among the top 10 performers whose operators provided the most #affordabledata. Data prices are a critical indicator for assessing policy and regulatory outcomes, including the competitiveness of markets and broader consumer welfare outcomes. Together with data collected from #AfterAccess surveys, these insights enable a better understanding of how Africans get online. The graph below illustrates the top 10 and bottom 10 countries in the RAMP index in USD. We hope this information assists consumers in making informed decisions when selecting the most affordable data packages, thereby enabling them to get online at a lower cost. View the full report at the link below. 🔗 : https://bit.ly/3D4nccy

NEWSLETTER | Building capacity across the continent: Reflections from AfriSIG and AfIGF 🗞️ 🌍 Review our on-the-ground engagements in Ethiopia and our global research collaborations with GPAI, Data for Development and T20 Brasil in our latest November issue. Also find an overview of our latest research outputs, which look at Africa's AI #EconomicPolicy as well as the state of digital technology adoption in #Ethiopia. 🔗 https://bit.ly/3ZqTqX7 To receive this newsletter monthly, subscribe here: 🔗 https://bit.ly/3L5jHDt

Is ‘information integrity’ the next chapter for fact-checking?  Fact-checking groups existed long before the events of 2016, but soon fighting dis- and misinformation became a rallying cry for fact-checkers and civil society groups alarmed by what they were seeing. Fact-checking, they believed, would help treat this new disorder. If only it were so simple. Simply fighting against “dis- and misinformation” was clearly not enough, write Africa Check founder Peter Cunliffe-Jones and professor emeritus Guy Berger. “What’s needed now is a framing that captures the full scope of fact-checkers’ work — and shows what they’re fighting for; not just what they’re against—a framing that would be more resilient in the face of attacks,” say Cunliffe-Jones and Berger. They continue: “In addition to debunking and pre-bunking, [fact-checking operations] can call out actual censorship and transparency deficits, especially when the public should have access to information it’s not getting.” Read the commentary: https://lnkd.in/eUVTY_5w

NEW PAPER | ‘Towards an equitable and just economic policy for AI in Africa’ by Sandra Makumbirofa, PhD, Roland Banya (Ph.D), Andrew Partridge, Dr. Andrew Rens & Samantha Msipa examines AI's profound implications for Africa’s economies. Recognising Africa's unique challenges—structural inequities, weak institutional frameworks, and data limitations—the paper explores how AI can be harnessed for equitable growth, job creation, & sustainable development while addressing potential harms. https://lnkd.in/ebrVcyHt #JustAI #AfricaJustAI International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

Great leadership on this fascinating project from Juan David Gutiérrez Rodríguez, with stellar support from Sarah Muñoz-Cadena, Arnaud Q., Antoine Glory and the team from GobLab UAI who undertook the research. I learned so much, thank you. Research ICT Africa Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D) International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office