Shaping a Fairer Data Future: Reflections from the UN World Data Forum
As we continue to grapple with the rapidly evolving era of digitalization, every piece of data, whether small or large, has the potential to create a ripple effect not only for individuals but for society as a whole. Born and raised in Rwanda, I consider data as a gateway to opportunities or a barrier that keeps me from accessing them, a reality that millions of young Africans face. With that in mind, I have taken a step towards closing the digital divide by innovating for data equity and digitalization through social entrepreneurship, research, and advocacy.
Between 11 and 14 November 2024, I joined data innovators, policymakers, and activists in Medellín, Colombia, for the 5th UN World Data Forum. It aimed at nurturing partnerships, mobilizing high-level political and financial support for data, and building a pathway to better data for sustainable development. This forum is a highly needed platform to advocate digital inclusion and data equity, as approximately 2.9 billion people still lack access to the internet, as per ITU’s findings. Such disparity calls for collective global action to reimagine cost-effective strategies that can enable low-income communities across the world to join digitalization.
Ghislain (second from left) during a Panel Session at the World Data Forum, Credits: GPSDD
Besides networking at the forum, I spoke as a panelist on several sessions and workshops. I presented the Participatory AI Design Toolkit in a session organized by Global Partnerships for Sustainable Development Data. The policy design toolkit is a product of the 12-month-long community co-creation initiative I led. It targeted and engaged five East African organizations that collectively represent over 500,000 beneficiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania. At the panel, I reflected on the impact of the toolkit in East African communities, particularly increasing legitimacy and inclusive decision-making of local communities in shaping AI governance. For instance, the toolkit provides low-resource languages with localized datasets to help reinforce compatibility with local dialects. This is vital in improving data quality coverage, as most low-resource languages often lack high-quality data sets for training AI models.
One member from the audience of around a hundred and fifty asked me about the steps needed to ensure AI systems accurately represent the lived experience of local populations. Reflecting on some insights from the toolkit, I emphasized the importance of initiating locally-led data cooperatives to increase dataset populating efforts. Not only can such pursuit ensure fair data representation, but it can also develop local data custodianship to ensure the maintenance of evolving data standards.
Wastezon Refurbishment Lab. Credits: Wastezon
After a fulfilling four-day forum, I returned from Medellín, Colombia, energized and optimistic for a fairer data future. I am utilizing the insights gained from the World Data Forum to advance my education at Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, where I am pursuing a Master of Public Policy generously funded by The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust. I am also leveraging networks obtained from the forum to scale the work my social enterprise, Wastezon, has been doing across East Africa to repurpose e-waste into low-cost, quality-vetted devices. So far, our refurbishment efforts have impacted over 15,000 low-income Rwandan households with low-cost devices accompanied by digital literacy support.
A fairer data future is within our reach, but it requires intentional action, inclusive policies, and a commitment to empowering global communities, ensuring no one is left behind along the journey.
