Datafication and Digital Rights in East Africa
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: Centre for Africa
Abstract
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.
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.
Planned Impact
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.
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.
Publications
Chonka P
(2022)
Algorithmic power and African indigenous languages: search engine autocomplete and the global multilingual Internet
in Media, Culture & Society
Gianluca Iazzolino
(2020)
A Digital New Deal Against Corporate Hijack of the Post-Covid 19 Future
Iazzolino G
(2020)
Infrastructure of compassionate repression: making sense of biometrics in Kakuma refugee camp
in Information Technology for Development
Iazzolino G
(2021)
'Going Karura': Colliding subjectivities and labour struggle in Nairobi's gig economy
in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
Iazzolino G
(2024)
AI for social good and the corporate capture of global development
in Information Technology for Development
Title | Hustling Day in Silicon Savannah |
Description | The PI and a Kenyan collaborator of the project (Michael Kimani) have written the script of a 15-page cartoon illustrated by an artist of the Cartoon Movement network. The cartoon has been translated in Swahili and Sheng and published on the website of the project and of the London School of Economics. The link has been circulated on social media. |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Impact | The cartoon has been used in classes of PGR students in Digital Development at the University of Manchester and at Strathmore University, Nairobi. |
URL | https://www.lse.ac.uk/africa/assets/Documents/Hustler-for-a-Day.pdf |
Description | The COVID 19 pandemic forced us to rethink the forms of engagement with our partners that we had envisaged in our initial proposal. Because of the impossibility to organise and attend workshops in presence, we created online spaces of discussion that enabled us to sustain and enrich a conversation on the state of the debate on Data rights in Africa. As the main achievement of the work funded through this award, we have held a webinar series with relevant stakeholders in the African countries at the centre of our study. The presentations were then turned into blog posts that we hosted on the project website (funded by the award). On the basis of this conversation, we thus realised that data rights are an increasingly relevant topic for policymakers and the public at large in Eastern Africa. However, the speed of digitisation processes is outpacing the discussion on how to guarantee that the benefits derived from datafication are evenly distributed. Regulators are struggling to catch up with the construction of digital ecosystems premised upon frictionless flows of data. We realised that policy-relevant research is particularly warranted in three specific areas: the datafication of the public sphere; data surveillance and protection in digital humanitarianism; the convergence of data rights and labour right in the Future of Work in Africa agenda. |
Exploitation Route | The key insights from our webinars and internal conversations have been published as blog posts on the project website. Four more posts are scheduled for publication in the coming months. Moreover, two papers based on the insights that were presented in the webinar series are currently under review at two peer-reviewed journals. |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Financial Services and Management Consultancy Government Democracy and Justice |
URL | https://datarightsafrica.org/ |
Description | Digital Shelter Network Building |
Organisation | Digital Shelter |
Country | Somalia |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Our team provided Digital Shelter with access to our network of partners and engaged with Digital Shelter researchers to define their contribution to phase 2 of the project. |
Collaborator Contribution | Digital Shelter researchers contributed to our seminar series and our blog with a post on Somali Women In Digital Spaces |
Impact | Blog post "Somali Women In Digital Spaces" (multidisciplinary collaboration involving digital humanities, gender studies, political economy) |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Somali Public Agenda Network Building |
Organisation | Somali Public Agenda |
Country | Somalia |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Our team provided Somali Public Agenda with access to our partners and discussed the terms of the engagement for phase 2 of the project. |
Collaborator Contribution | Somali Public Agenda contributed to our seminar series, blog and project discussion. |
Impact | Blog post "Understanding digital inclusion and exclusion in Somalia" (multidisciplinary contribution involving digital humanities and political economy) |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Southern Africa Network building |
Organisation | University of Johannesburg |
Country | South Africa |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We provided the University of Johannesburg with access to our network partners and discussed the terms of their involvement for phase 2 of the project |
Collaborator Contribution | The University of Johannesburg is currently organising a workshop, sponsored by our project, to build a network of partners across Southern Africa |
Impact | Workshop on Media policy and regulation in Southern Africa, to be held in April 2021 |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Podcast on data journalism (in Somali) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The podcast featured an interview in Somali with Mohamed Abdimalik, a journalist, open data activist and the founding director of FESOJ Disinformation Lab. The podcast was aimed at a Somali-speaking audience and highlighted the value on data driven reporting in Somalia's politically fragile environment. It pointed in particular at the current lack of basic data and digital skills as the most acute barrier facing journalists in Somalia. Following our podcast, we received emails from Somali students of media studies and journalism showing interest in this subject. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://datarightsafrica.org/podcast-fursadaha-saxaafada-xogta-data-journalism-iyo-jaantusyada-xogta... |
Description | Presentation Development Studies Association UK |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Presentation of a paper on the digital economy in Kenya at the Development Studies Association UK |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Project website |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The link to the website was circulated on social media by the communication officer at the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa, LSE |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://datarightsafrica.org/ |
Description | Webinar series |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | An average of 15 people attended our webinar series, contributing to the discussion around the following topics: -Search auto-complete algorithms, African language data and contentious politics (Somali/Swahili/Amharic comparisons) (September 24 2020) -Datafication of informality/"Grassroots Economic Associations and Digital Technologies" (October 15 2020) -Data-driven (critical) humanitarianism (October 26 2020) -Inclusion/exclusion in Somali digital space (November 26 2020) -Gig economy and the future of work in Africa (December 7 2020) -Humanitarian data governance in Somalia (January 28) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |