The Economy Of Data
Understanding and optimizing the foundational inputs that will power Artificial Intelligence in Africa.
Recent posts:
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.
Category: Uncategorized
-
‘Data is the currency we use to access free services’ In an age where the Internet does not forget, access to technology and technological devices is not only easy but cheap. People are using all kinds of tech products and services and most users sign on to these services without reading through the fine print…
-
The tech bros have over the past year or so made one message very clear. AI will replace most of our jobs in the very near future. Top of the chopping board in this messaging has been the replacement of computing and engineering jobs that just a few years ago were the crown jewel of…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…