Africa AI document highlights data access
Access to data is a key component of the AU’s 2024 strategy for AI for the continent. It recognises that data governance is central to the development and deployment of AI in alignment with Africa 2063 – the Africa we want.
It reads:
“Data is foundational to AI innovation and development. AI works by identifying patterns in available data and then applying this knowledge to new data sets. A large number of datasets are therefore required to find patterns in the data. Data also need to be of high quality, diverse, inclusive and locally produced to address local problems effectively. However, there is a significant gap in the quality, inclusiveness and availability of data for AI models in Africa. Most data from the public and private sectors remain inaccessible.”
The strategy notes that most of the data on the African population is currently only available to a handful of companies, even although AU Member States are also aware that data has become an asset of the twenty-first century.
The document’s High Level Recommendations include the need for Africa to:
- Develop data policies and strategies that facilitate access and sharing of non-personal data for AI within the context of the AU Data Policy Framework, addressing issues of localisation, data classification and cross-border data transfers, mechanisms for building data skills, public, private and research access to open data and research and innovation on data.
- Establish data governance frameworks, legal frameworks on personal data protection and protocols with standards for sharing data ethically, responsibly and securely based on the recommendations of the AU Data Policy Framework.
- Raise awareness of AI data needs and promote national and regional data pools and data markets (e.g., in areas such as climate change) to foster exchange and facilitate the development of AI models.
