Datafication and Digital Rights in East Africa

Sitting within the theme of Digital Rights, the Datafication and Digital Rights in East Africa Network brings together social scientists, technical practitioners and policy advocates to explore ways to render the 'black boxes' around datafication and algorithmic power with regard to citizens' social and economic lives in East Africa more transparent. It aims to lay the groundwork for challenge-led research that interrogates how datafication is experienced, interpreted and contested in two sectors of everyday life, the public sphere and the informal economy, and in three Eastern African countries: Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. At the core of this network is a partnership structure that includes technical practitioners and researchers at its core. Led by Professor Alcinda Honwana, network partners provide a breadth of sectoral expertise and country-contexts, and research and practitioner perspectives.
This Network recognises there are both huge opportunities and challenges around datafication in social and economic activities. In policy and academic domains, attention to the ways public-private partnership can leverage the developmental potential of big data is growing, for example, using data analytics to bring financial services to informal entrepreneurs. Equally, there are strong concerns are voiced over the ways that technology companies harvest and commercialise the data used to 'train' algorithms underpinning their platforms, in ways often unknown to the user. This Network accepts and confronts both of these perspectives, setting up a collaborative structure through which to unpack the multi-dimensional, complex and context specific features of datafication in East Africa.
Network partners will operate through three working groups: two sector-focused working groups exploring datafication processes in, first, the public sphere and, second, the economy, and a third working group on Knowledge translation and public engagement. Each working group will cover social science, policy and technical perspectives. The two sector-focused working groups will be tasked with developing frameworks of understanding that take into account five complex and intersecting dimensions of datafication processes: 1) Back end processes; 2) Front end user experiences; 3) Data Governance and management, and their linkages to citizen rights; 4) Organisational structures and practices; and 5) the regional and international context. They will explore these dynamics in their sector area, as well as discuss together at network-wide workshops to consider cross cutting practices and issues. The task of the third working group, in conversation with the other two, will be to set up channels for wider engagement and conversation around the network's conversations, specifically building on the partners' experience and wider positioning. This includes using local-language podcasts to spark conversation, supporting capacity building of youth and students around visualising insights, and creating an interactive online journalism feature. This emphasis on wider engagement is crucial in order to ensure that the network remains driven by and linked in to priorities and challenges around rights on the ground. These efforts will form the foundation for developing collaborative grant proposals to dig deeper into processes of datafication in different contexts, what they mean for digital rights, and how governance, regulation and technical bodies might respond, including possibilities to inform technological development.
The concrete outputs of the Network in its first year will be: 1) established and sustainable patterns of working collaboratively; 2) active communication with policy and practitioner bodies in East Africa; 3) new frameworks of understanding of datafication processes in the economy and public sphere; and 4) a concrete and ambiguous grant proposal to extend research and engagement, and inform technological development.

Facilitating knowledge translation and impact is central to the 'Datafication and Digital Rights in East Africa' Network's overarching objectives:
1)To establish a sustainable and equitable network of interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners, from East Africa and internationally, that is capable, and has begun to deliver, effective collaborative research and research translation activities; and
2)To develop collaborative and ambitious research proposals that are driven by policy and practitioner challenges in East Africa around the datafication of social and economic activities.
The former objective indicates an aim to create a Network that has practitioners and research translation activities at its core. The latter specifies an aim for future Network activity to address challenges in the realisation of digital rights for citizens, and in policy and technical development. To achieve these objectives, we will capitalise on Network partners' networks and existing strengths, and maximise the impact of Network conversations by bridging different stakeholder groups and connections, and by drawing on the expertise and experience of our investigators in challenge-led research and development. This includes leveraging wider stakeholder networks within which our Network Partners are influential and active members, most notably led by Professor Okello-Orlale and her linkages through the Africa Regional Data Cube.
During the first year, knowledge translation and engagement activities will be coordinated and led by a working group whose objective will be to continually share and spark wider conversation to inform the Network's priorities and activities. Professor Honwana and Professor Okello-Orlale will provide leadership and guidance on external engagement activities. While a plan of action will be further detailed and agreed at the Network's inception workshop, we propose the following four engagement activities as a basis for wider stakeholder engagement:
1) Website of the project and twitter account that provide a portal, updated in real-time, to share network activities and wider relevant resources.
2) Three podcasts on the topic of the developmental potential and challenges of datafication: These will be aimed at building on Network conversations, furthering awareness and discussion around emerging issues and possibilities. The podcasts will be produced by journalists from Kenya (English and Swahili editions), Ethiopia (Amhara and Tigrinya editions) and Somalia (Somali edition) and will be broadcasted by local radios.
3) Small seed funding (i.e. £300-500) to support innovative ideas around how to visualise and share the frameworks of understanding coming out through the network activities. This small competition will be aimed at students and young designers, and coordinated through the Network partners' spheres of influence, specifically at Strathmore University.
4) Outreach Meetings and Speaking Engagements at the LSE, King's College London, the University of Cambridge, Strathmore University and Somali Public Agenda to link up the Network activities to wider academic and policy communities in the UK and East Africa. These outreach meetings will promote and expand from the podcasts through more in-depth face-to-face conversations with policy, academic and development actors.
In sum, this programme of activities is aimed at creating effective spaces for two-way conversations between the Network and the different stakeholder groups interested in digital rights and economic and social development in East Africa. It aims to do so by building on Network Partners' strengths, and supporting and encouraging the talent and activity of local journalists and artists, thereby providing for innovative and active spaces for engagement.