Developing Data? Markets and Politics in a Digital Age

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Digital data has become hugely valuable. The proliferation of mobile phones, digital financial services, and social media are transforming markets and politics in Africa, providing opportunities for new jobs and enterprises, as well as improved government services. However, there are considerable risks and impediments, including a lack of digital capacity, the spectres of surveillance and misinformation, and the deteriorating quality of work-life balance. Whether African firms, states, and populations can harness data for their own developmental purposes, and to what effect, requires collaborative engagement across sectors and countries.This project will create a network comprised of academics, industry, civil society, and policymakers in order to analyse the transformations which are taking place as a result of digital data. The network will focus on two main themes - developing data markets and data politics - to capture the wide-ranging opportunities and challenges present in Africa. The network will also consider the regulation of data and the digital skills ecosystem, two areas that cut across both themes. It will focus on three countries - Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda - during the first phase of the project, with a plan to expand continent-wide if funded for the second phase. The network will promote knowledge exchange, capacity building, and future research collaborations between members. These activities will be particularly prominent at the network's two workshops, which will be organised with our partner organisations in East Africa. The first, covering the theme of Developing Data Markets, will be hosted by the Centre for Intellectual Property & Information Technology at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya. We will examine how digital data is furthering the creation of new sorts of businesses and what challenges come from the capture and sale of personal data. It will involve the participation of UK industry and, among other activities, will create opportunities for market exploration and skills transfer. The second will be run by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East & Southern Africa (CIPESA) in Kampala, Uganda and will focus on the theme of "Governing (with) Data". It will focus on the use of digital data by government, political parties, and civil society, as well as questions about emerging regulatory structures. During both events, attendees will work to identify gaps in knowledge and to create a future research agenda. Other network activities will include creating a video series, which will involve interviews with a range of experts on digital data in East Africa and project members explaining basic concepts relating to data, to help make the field more accessible. In preparation for each workshop, the network will create a landscape analysis that will map what is known and what opportunities exist for new research and innovation. The project will manage a website and publish articles in East African online publications, in order to circulate knowledge about recent data-related developments. The project has also set aside specific time for writing a proposal for phase two of the DIDA call, with the aim of using 2020 to build the basis for a transformative project on digital data across Africa.