By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
GSMA Africa, in
collaboration with the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)
and the Science for Africa Foundation, has highlighted the importance of
accessible, sustainable and resilient digital and data infrastructure in
advancing Africa’s digital future.
The call was made during the
Africa Health and Development Annual Research Symposium (AHDARS), held from 10
to 11 November, where the partners launched The African Data and Knowledge
Systems Report and the Digital Health Index.
The launches marked an
important step towards advancing African ownership, agency and collaboration in
shaping the continent’s data and knowledge future.
Discussions at the symposium
focused on how Africa can translate its growing wealth of data and research
into meaningful action, with stakeholders examining the roles of governments,
researchers, the private sector and other participants in strengthening the
continent’s data and evidence ecosystem.
Kanwulia O. stressed the
need for greater collaboration and a clearer understanding of the contributions
different stakeholders can make to the ecosystem.
“We know all the challenges
that we face in the data and evidence ecosystem, but I think now we have to
think about our rule in that ecosystem, what piece of the possibility you hold
and the researcher has a government and the private sector and where people
spend an ecosystem and how we can connect those pieces together,” Kanwulia
said.
The importance of building
accessible, sustainable and resilient digital and data infrastructure was also
central to a panel discussion titled “Resilient Data Infrastructure for
Africa’s Digital Future”, moderated by Christian Kisutsa.
The discussion explored
practical examples of how African data, research and innovation are being
applied to address development challenges across the continent.
Fridah Manyaki presented
insights on ATLAS Umoja AI, a platform that brings together governments,
industry, researchers and innovators to develop the benchmarks, models and
communities needed to advance African language artificial intelligence (AI).
APHRC and the Science for
Africa Foundation also showcased initiatives demonstrating how African data is
contributing to solutions in health, research and development.
GSMA Africa said building
the continent’s data future is a shared responsibility, emphasising the need
for continued collaboration among stakeholders to strengthen Africa’s digital
and knowledge infrastructure.
