About ACE-DGDR
The Africa Digital Rights Hub (ADRH) is a not-for-profit “think and action tank” that promotes pan-African research and capacity building on digital rights. Interested in the impact of digital technology on people living on the Continent, ADRH brings together academic researchers, stakeholders, policymakers, regional and international bodies to address digital rights issues in Africa. Over the years, ADRHhas generated and accelerated innovative ideas and solutions unique to Africa. ADRH has also been providing a platforms for partnerships to scale activities and engage with key organisations across the continent.
Africa Centre of Excellence on Data Governance and Digital Rights (ACE-DGDRI) is the Hub’s initiative to expand and add more value to what we have been doing. The initiative responds to the current era where data is increasingly becoming a powerful driver – not only from an economic perspective, but also in terms of governance, innovation rights. In an age of digitization, data governance, digital rights and corresponding strategies are evolving across the globe and Africa owes to deliberately curate its narrative and share its destiny.
Africa is also witnessing legal and regulatory evolution addressing challenges digitization brings to data governance and digital rights. There is a rise in the promulgation of data protection and other data governance and digital rights laws and instruments on the national, sub-regional, and regional level. Unfortunately, , Africa still faces significant challenges including in regulatory capacity, technical expertise and funding in data governance and digital rights. Additionally, most of the enacted or proposed regulatory frameworks and laws are not contextually curated hence fail to reflect the African picture and legal culture.
Africa legal and regulatory landscape must be able to address relevant and existing concerns on ground. The geometric growth in digital trade, security concerns, and growing national identification registers across Africa means increase in data flow and traffic, all these dynamics calls for laws, policies, and regulations that create fertile grounds for modernization in Africa based on African settings and related data governance and digital rights issues across Africa.
To achieve this objective, the ACE-DGDR is established as a strategic initiative to foster sustained and pan-African research, produce scholarly work, support policy dialogue, and deliver training on the evolving dynamics of data governance in Africa and beyond. The initiative adopts a focused and systematic approach to strengthening the body of knowledge on data governance and digital rights across the Continent working in close collaboration with Universities and other training institutions. This work also supports the adoption of best practices and the development of the skills needed to design, implement, and enforce policies and regulations governing data use across both public and private sectors at national, regional, and continental levels.
The ACE-DGDR Initiative will be run in partnership with universities and training institutions across Africa The ADRH serves as a centralized point for research, policy initiatives and professional training in data and digital governance on the Xontinent.
Vision
To become Pan-African centre of excellence for advancing knowledge, skills and policy innovation in data governance and digital rights on the Continent.
Mission
To build and empower a new generation of African professionals with cutting-edge training, research, and collaborative platform in data governance and digital rights, rooted in African realities but globally connected.
Objectives
01.
Promote quality and sustainable research through joint publications, seminars and conferences;
02.
Develop, gather and share information and resources;
03.
Actively work on promoting and developing African Scholarship;
04.
Develop research projects that have an impact on ethics, law and policies in Africa;
05.
Collaborate with key stakeholders, including academia, government, private sector, industry and CSOs, on the objectives of the initiative; and actively raise funds to develop and support the Centre.
03.
Actively work on promoting and developing African Scholarship;
Key Activities
The Initiative has identified group of activities to support achievement of its objectives and reach its mission. These are:
01. Capacity building and professional development
This includes desiging and delivering certified short and long-term courses which are taught by internationally renowned trainers from African and beyond. The scope of course include (but not limited to) data protection laws, policies and regulation, algorithmic governance and AI ethics, public digital infrastructure and public interests technology, digital inclusion.
These courses are curated in cognizance of Africa realities, socio-political perseptions and existing legal cultures. Course materials are translated and adapted for Francophone, Lusophone and Anglophone audiences.
02. Scholarship and access programs
The initiative strive to create and offer merit-based and subject-based scholarships, prioritizing underrepresented groups such as gender and regional representation.
03. Academic and professional exchange
To support skills acquisition and knowledge exchange, the Initiative facilitates short-term and long-term internships, ad collaborative residences in partner institutions across Africa, Europe, Asia and Americas.
04. Policy research and advocacy
The initiative acts as research incubator for legal and policy briefs, comparative digital governance analysis and debases on Africa position in global digital governance. The purpose is to stay abreast with the ever-changing data ecosystem.
05. Convening and community engagement
To provide a platform for professional exchange such as annual summits, policy dialogues and round tables. In addition, to ensure sustainability of our engagement, we are creating an alumni network to support lifelong learning and transnational/cross-sector collaboration.
06. Strategic partnerships
ACE-DGDR will collaborate with a range of partner institutions to provide holistic training (including online learning platforms), and literary works to it’s participants. Partners will be identified and engaged based on the various projects and activities undertaken by the Initiative.
Thematic Areas
Thematic areas of focus of the ACE-DGDR include:
- Data Governance
- Privacy and Data Protection
- Cybersecurity
- Online Child Protection
- Intellectual Property