The Datasphere Initiative is pleased to announce that Smart Africa has joined the Datasphere Initiative as an institutional partner. The organizations will collaborate on a range of policy and outreach efforts to responsibly unlock the value of data for all.
Smart Africa is an alliance of 36 African countries, international organizations, and global private sector players tasked with Africa’s digital agenda. The alliance is empowered by a bold and innovative commitment by African Heads of State to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent and usher Africa into the knowledge economy through affordable access to broadband and the use of ICTs.
“We are pleased to have Smart Africa join our global network building a collaboratively governed Datasphere. Smart Africa brings important expertise and reach to technological and policy innovations coming out of Africa” said Lorrayne Porciuncula, Executive Director, Datasphere Initiative.
With a vision to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030, the Smart Africa Alliance has committed to support national data strategies and enforcement of data protection regulations in order to create a harmonized framework for data protection policies and regulations in Africa. Both organizations will join forces to support data governance efforts on the continent.
The Datasphere Initiative will be launching an Africa Forum on Sandboxes for Data – a pan-African community to enable innovative cross-border data governance solutions. The multistakeholder process will include local, regional, and global organizations including Smart Africa to explore the ways in which regulatory and operational sandboxes could facilitate responsible data flows and exchange.
Commenting on the Datasphere Initiative joining Smart Africa as a member Mr. Lacina Koné, DG/CEO of Smart Africa stated: “We are welcoming the Datasphere Initiative as a new member. At Smart Africa, we believe data plays a key role in the continent´s digital transformation, especially the way it is governed and exchanged are critical to us. The Datasphere Initiative is therefore in line with our mission and ambition.”
