The Economy Of Data
Understanding and optimizing the foundational inputs that will power Artificial Intelligence in Africa.
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About the Author:
Linet is a computer scientist, Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer, and practitioner in AI policy, data science and data policy. She works to strengthen data ecosystems in partner countries across Africa and Latin America, as well as strategies to tackle technical challenges and achieve their data for decision and policy making commitments.
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A few weeks ago, in his keynote to Kenyans, the president of Kenya admitted that building AI data centers in Kenya (as it is in many countries) is a pipe dream. This followed an agreement signed between Microsoft, The Government of Kenya and G42. He admitted that, to build an efficient data center requires about…
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A few days ago, speaking to a couple friends, I asked them the cliché thing you ask people who do not speak your native language, ‘how do you say ‘hello’ in your mother-tongue?’. My friends are a little over the youth group age, grew up in a setting where they spoke their native language and…
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In quantum mechanics, the thought experiment of Schrödinger’s cat illustrates a system trapped in superposition: alive and dead until the box is opened and observed. The current AI investment craze may be exhibiting a similar paradox: is the bubble bursting, or is it still fully alive? Not too long ago, we started witnessing the cyclic…
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This post is co-authored by Linet Kwamboka Nyang’au and Ambassador Prof. Bitange Ndemo (Kenya’s Ambassador to the European Union) in celebration of World Statistics Day 2025. The worth of a nation is determined by how much reliable and precise statistics it can generate. Governments access reliable and precise statistics to help them decide how to…
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A couple of weeks ago, I put out a survey on my socials titled ‘AI in Everyday Work & Life: Insights for Policy and Innovation.’ The idea behind this survey was to start to understand how different people are using AI and the new and emerging models in their day to day life, and if…
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Around the world, AI is no longer a futuristic concept but a present-day reality transforming industries and societies. For Africa, embracing AI is a critical step towards economic growth, innovation, and solving unique challenges. However, the path to AI maturity is not linear. It’s a journey best understood as a pyramid of readiness, where each…
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In the timeless parable of the blind men and the elephant, each man touches a different part of the creature; a tusk, a tail, a leg and comes to a wildly different conclusion about what he’s experiencing and what an elephant is to them. One insists it is a spear, another a rope, another a…
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Data continues to be one of the most underrated things when it comes to the conversation about life as we know it today. In the era of emerging technologies, beyond the infrastructure, capacity, investments, algorithms etc, data remains king, it drives everything. On the African continent, the data conversation has seen its fair share of…
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The Kenya Open Data Initiative is a program that was launched in 2011 out of the need for Government to provide useful information to the public. Its launch followed the promulgation of the Kenya Constitution in 2010, in which Article 35 of the Bill of rights clauses states that every Kenyan citizen has a right…
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‘Data is the currency we use to access free services’ By Linet Kwamboka Image Source The past year has been one of the most fulfilling years in my pursuit to sharpen my expertise on the issues of privacy and data protection. The quote that is my headline, above, came from an unknown source and really…
The Economy Of Data 