WS #111 Addressing the Challenges of Digital Sovereignty in DLDCs

Summary

This discussion focused on addressing the challenges of digital sovereignty in developing and least developed countries, particularly in Africa. Participants explored the complexities of data localization, cross-border data flows, and the balance between national security and economic growth.

Key challenges identified included high infrastructure costs, unreliable electricity supply, limited technical expertise, and cybersecurity risks. The importance of data classification was emphasized, distinguishing between sensitive data that should be localized and less sensitive data that could be stored internationally. Participants stressed the need for harmonized policies and regulations at regional and continental levels to facilitate cross-border data flows while protecting national interests.

The discussion highlighted the potential economic benefits of local data centers, including job creation, skills development, and fostering local innovation. However, concerns were raised about the high costs and technical requirements for establishing and maintaining such facilities. The role of public-private partnerships and collaboration with global tech companies was seen as crucial for addressing these challenges.

Participants emphasized the need for capacity building, particularly in developing local technical expertise and training policymakers. The importance of institutional memory and continuity in policy implementation was also discussed. The potential of renewable energy sources, such as solar power, for powering data centers was noted as a solution to energy challenges.

The discussion concluded with calls for action, including signing relevant international conventions, implementing smart regulations that balance localization with cross-border data flows, and utilizing new assessment metrics for cybersecurity readiness. Overall, the session underscored the complex interplay between digital sovereignty, economic development, and international collaboration in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– Challenges of implementing data localization and digital sovereignty in developing countries, including infrastructure costs, lack of technical expertise, and energy/resource constraints

– Balancing digital sovereignty with cross-border data flows to enable economic growth and innovation

– Need for harmonized policies and regulations around data governance at regional and continental levels

– Importance of building local capacity and skills to manage data centers and digital infrastructure

– Classifying different types of data to determine appropriate levels of localization vs. cross-border sharing

The overall purpose of the discussion was to explore the challenges and potential solutions for implementing digital sovereignty and data localization policies in developing countries, particularly in Africa, while still enabling economic growth and innovation.

The tone of the discussion was largely collaborative and solution-oriented. Speakers shared challenges from their countries and regions, but focused on proposing practical approaches and policy recommendations. There was a sense of urgency around the need to build local capacity and infrastructure, balanced with pragmatism about the current reliance on global tech companies and cross-border data flows. The tone became more optimistic towards the end as speakers discussed emerging opportunities and called for coordinated action.

Speakers

– Jimson Olufuye: Chair of the advisory council of Africa ICT Alliance (AFICTA), Principal consultant at Contemporary Consulting Limited

– Ulandi Exner: Chairperson of AFICTA, IT consultant

– Kossi Amessinou: Director of Economic Activities in the Republic of Benin

– Melissa Sassi: Works in financial services and tech innovation

– Toshikazu Sakano: From Advanced Telecommunication Research Institute (ATR) in Japan, works on ICT for disaster countermeasures

– Martin Koyabe: Regional manager for Africa for the Global Forum for Cyber Expertise (GFCE)

– Mary Uduma: Coordinator of West African IGF

– Rachael Shitanda: Deputy chair of AFICTA, CEO of Pamba Tech

– Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi: Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency in Nigeria

Additional speakers:

– Berhard Fares: Student from Indonesia studying digital sovereignty at Tsinghua University

Digital Sovereignty in Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities

This discussion, organized by AFICTA (Africa ICT Alliance) in preparation for the Global IGF 2024 in Saudi Arabia, focused on addressing the challenges of digital sovereignty in developing and least developed countries, with a particular emphasis on Africa. Participants explored the complexities of data localization, cross-border data flows, and the delicate balance between national security and economic growth.

Key Challenges of Digital Sovereignty

Several significant challenges were identified in implementing digital sovereignty and data localization policies in developing countries:

1. Infrastructure and Resources:

– High infrastructure and capital costs for establishing local data centers (Ulandi Exner)

– Unreliable electricity supply and water resources for data center operations (Ulandi Exner)

– Limited local technical expertise to manage and maintain data centers (Ulandi Exner)

2. Data Management and Security:

– Lack of understanding about where data is actually stored and who has access (Ulandi Exner)

– Cybersecurity risks and the need for robust data protection measures (Ulandi Exner)

– Recent issues with Nigerian banks’ core banking applications highlighting the importance of digital sovereignty (Mary Uduma)

3. Policy and Regulation:

– Legal and regulatory challenges with cross-border data sharing (Mary Uduma)

– Need for harmonized policies and regulations at regional and continental levels (Martin Koyabe)

Balancing Digital Sovereignty and Economic Growth

A central theme of the discussion was the need to balance digital sovereignty with the benefits of cross-border data flows:

1. Data Classification:

– Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi emphasized the importance of data classification to determine what information should be localized and what can be stored internationally.

– Jimson Olufuye advocated for smart regulation that distinguishes between classified government data and commercial data.

2. Economic Opportunities:

– Melissa Sassi highlighted that cross-border data flows enable innovation and economic opportunities.

– Dr. Toshikazu Sakano stressed the importance of local data centers for economic growth and job creation, noting the layered structure of internet and business.

3. Government Needs:

– Kossi Amessinou pointed out the government’s need for data to collect taxes and provide services effectively.

Proposed Solutions and Recommendations

Participants offered various solutions and recommendations to address the challenges of digital sovereignty:

1. Capacity Building and Skills Development:

– Multiple speakers emphasized the need for developing local technical expertise and building capacity across various stakeholders.

– Dr. Toshikazu Sakano highlighted the opportunity for data centers to help grow local engineering talent.

2. Policy Harmonization:

– Martin Koyabe and Mary Uduma stressed the importance of harmonized regional and continental data policies to facilitate cross-border data flows while protecting national interests.

3. Infrastructure Development:

– Jimson Olufuye shared a practical example of using solar power to run data centers continuously for ten years in Nigeria, addressing energy challenges in developing countries.

– Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi mentioned working with hyperscalers to establish local zones or data centers in Nigeria.

4. Incentives for Innovation:

– Melissa Sassi suggested the need for incentives to encourage local tech innovation while engaging in global markets.

Importance of Multi-stakeholder Engagement

Several speakers emphasized the critical role of multi-stakeholder cooperation in addressing digital sovereignty challenges:

1. Mary Uduma highlighted the need for collaboration between government, private sector, and civil society in developing data governance frameworks.

2. Martin Koyabe stressed the importance of involving all stakeholders in policy development and implementation.

3. Jimson Olufuye emphasized the role of organizations like AFICTA in facilitating dialogue and cooperation among different sectors.

Thought-Provoking Insights

Several comments sparked deeper reflection on the complexities of digital sovereignty:

1. Ulandi Exner questioned whether we truly know where our data is stored, challenging fundamental assumptions about data control.

2. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi expanded the concept of digital sovereignty beyond data, including operations, infrastructure, and talent sovereignty.

3. A student participant raised the need for a clear, globally accepted definition of digital sovereignty.

Conclusion and Future Directions

The discussion concluded with calls for action, including implementing smart regulations that balance localization with cross-border data flows, and utilizing new assessment metrics for cybersecurity readiness, such as the tcmm.africa tool mentioned by Jimson Olufuye. The session underscored the complex interplay between digital sovereignty, economic development, and international collaboration in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Key areas for further exploration include:

1. Developing strategies to retain skilled professionals in developing countries

2. Leveraging renewable energy sources for local data centers

3. Implementing effective cross-border data flow agreements to address cybersecurity concerns

4. Creating globally accepted definitions and measurement tools for digital sovereignty

These questions reflect the ongoing challenges and opportunities in achieving digital sovereignty in developing countries, emphasizing the need for continued dialogue and collaborative solutions.

Jimson Olufuye: Apologies for the late start of this workshop. Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Greetings and welcome to Afikta workshop on addressing the challenges of digital sovereignty in developing and least developed countries. Under the sub-theme, improving digital governance for the internet we want. Under the over-hacking theme, building a multi-stakeholder digital future. My name is Jimson Olufuye. I will be the online moderator for this session. And I happen to be the chair of the advisory council of Africa City Alliance, Afikta. Briefly about Afikta. Afikta is a consigned private sector led alliance of high city associations, companies and professional individuals in Africa. It was founded in 2012 with six country membership but now in more than 40 countries in Africa. Our vision is to fulfill the promise of the digital age for everyone in Africa. And to do that we collaborate with the African Union, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African governments, especially the government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the federal government of Nigeria to the Federal Ministry of Communication and Information and Digital Economy, Innovation and Digital Economy. And with this agency, the Nigerian Communication Commission and the National Information Technology Development Agency. And we have the privilege to have with us the DG of the National Information Technology Development Agency. You are most welcome. And this is done in the spirit of multi-stakeholder. engagement, which is the bedrock of Internet governance, as outlined in the Tunis Agenda of the World Summit on Information Society, 2005, which I can say is an outcome of WSIS. For my day job, I’m the principal consultant at Contemporary Consulting Limited based in Abuja. We help organizations achieve their digitalization and cybersecurity goals. I would like to thank the host, our host, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for hosting the Global IGF 2024. As someone who witnessed firsthand Saudi Arabia delegation’s opposition to multi-stakeholder engagement during the concluding stage of the CSTD Working Group in 2018, I’m really personally thrilled that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is indeed hosting all of us and welcoming all stakeholders, that is the government, private sector, civil society, the academic and technical communities, to Riyadh. So I say salaam alaikum. Thank you for hosting us. Shukran. My co-onsite moderator speaker is Dr. Martins Koyabi, the regional manager for Africa for the Global Forum for Cyber Expertise, and online moderator is Ms. Rachel Jitanda, the deputy chair of AFICTA. Our rapporteurs are Ms. Tanye Kemabunta, Coyote Uyemi, and Shegum Omolosho. In this important session, which is entitled Addressing the Challenges of Digital Sovereignty in Developing and Least Developed Countries, we’re going to I have three rounds, a round of 25 minutes each for this each section and in the first round I’ll be asking our speakers the first policy question and just before your answers please you quickly introduce yourself and your designation and affiliation and then you go to the subject matter. When it’s three minutes I’ll give a thumbs up and you begin to be able to conclude. Well the issue of digital sovereignty is a very very crucial one, very very important and it’s much more important because why Africa constitutes about 17% of global population. Our presence with regard to data center and digital space about 1% and so we need to address the issue of meeting up even with our own industries, localizing our data and ensuring that we participate in over 4.3 trillion digital economy of the world. So without much ado I would like to throw in the first policy question, first and foremost let me just mention that yes we also have this other speaker with us, Ms. Ulandi Esna that’s the chair of AFICTA, she’s online. Chair, are you online? Please say hello if you are online.

Ulandi Exner: Good morning or good afternoon, Dr. Jemson. Can you hear me? Excellent. I’ve also just switched my video on.

Jimson Olufuye: Yeah, we can hear you loud and clear. Please, if you are speaking, please turn on your video. And we also have Mr. Kosi Amesino, the Director of Economic Activities in the Republic of Benin. Dr. Kosi, you’re most welcome. Say hello. We also have with us Dr. Melissa Sassi. Dr. Melissa Sassi, are you online? And we also have Jane Covene. Is Jane around? Jane? Okay, maybe she will join us soon. And we also have with us my friend, Dr. Toshikazu Sakano, Director of ATR in Japan. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you very much. And we also have with us Dr. Martins Koyabe, who I mentioned earlier. Dr. Koyabe. And Mrs. Mary Uduma. Where is she? She’s here. Yes, please. Mrs. Mary Uduma, coordinator of West African IGF. Please. And again, we have our DG there. She’s our special guest of honor. All right, so I’ve recognized Mr. Kerem Abuta on the line. Mr. Kerem Abuta, can you say hello if you are there? Or any of the secretarial people for the rapporteuring? Secretariat, can you say hello, if you can hear me? Okay, I can see them online, but I believe they can hear me. All right, so straight to the point, the first policy question. And our chair will be taking the first response to this. In the light of most developing and least developed countries lacking the capacity of hosting their huge data generated locally, and considering the importance of digital sovereignty to the development and security of an economy, please, I would like the key challenges encountered by stakeholders in developing and least developed countries in the implementation of local servers and the adoption of data localization policy using South African experience or case study, and also answer the second one, that what practical solution can you propose to address the challenges faced, say, in your country? Ms. Ulanda, the chair of AFICTA, you have the floor, please.

Ulandi Exner: Thank you so much, Dr. Jemson, and also just by way of introduction, as you’d already mentioned, I’m the chairperson of AFICTA. I’m not going to provide the background on AFICTA because, Dr. Jemson, you’ve done so already. Also, just in terms of my day job, the one that pays the bills, because, you know, we do a lot out of passion. I’m an IT consultant. I serve on various governance structures and boards within the public sector, so I also hope to be bringing some of my experiences and the challenges that I experience in terms of the questions that I’ve posed. in the context of, well, in the South African context. So, just in terms of some of the key challenges that I have, and Doc, I’ve also got my time going here so that I don’t go over time, and I respect the time for other members as well. Some of the key challenges that we specifically also find in South Africa, and I’m sure it is very relevant throughout Africa, is the high infrastructure and capital costs. It isn’t easy to build data centers. We have some amazing and incredible data centers in South Africa, but it requires huge amounts of investment. And obviously, as a country, you need to be attractive to investors so that they can, local investment or foreign investment, provide the capital for those infrastructure costs. We also are battling terribly in South Africa with electricity challenges. We’ve had some reprieve in the last several months in terms of electricity. So, electricity is a lot better, but with that specific challenge, that means we need backup power. Backup power is expensive because it’s the cost of diesel and fuel to maintain that power. So, and we’re also battling, at the moment in South Africa, we’re experiencing water shortages. We haven’t had, in Johannesburg, for example, we haven’t had our summer rainfall and our dams are running very low on water. So, there’s water restrictions and you also need water for cooling. So, it’s really the cost around the capital. There’s also something which we battle with in our context is the limited technical expertise. We don’t have the required expertise to run huge data centers, to manage the data centers, to secure the data centers. So, that is some of the challenges that we’re experiencing. We do have good regulatory and legal frameworks. in terms of data sovereignty within our country. So as far as information is concerned, we have what is, which is very similar to the GDPR in the European Union. We have what is called PAPIR, which is the Protection of Personal Information Act. And basically, if our data or personal data has to reside in other country other than South Africa, it has to comply with privacy standards, which is either equal to our own or better. So that is pretty much how we’ve addressed some of the regulatory and legal frameworks. Some of the other challenges include the cybersecurity risks and data protection. We also have limited access to global technology providers. So those are just some of the instances of some of the challenges that we experience in terms of the digital sovereignty in South Africa. Doctor, you’ve also indicated, see, I’ve got about 20 seconds left, just how we would deal with some of those challenges at a very high level. Very quickly, we would need hybrid and multi-cloud approaches just to ensure data residency. We need a stronger data sovereignty framework. And we also need local data centers and co-location in terms of data sovereignty. Chair, I will pause now to give the floor back to you. And I’m happy to take further questions at the next round. Thank you, Chair.

Jimson Olufuye: Thank you very much, our distinguished Chair. That was quite a lot packed in three and a half minutes. Thank you very much. Doctor Kosi, Benin, move up. total to write in the global Cybersecurity index. Oh, maybe you don’t have any other challenges anymore. Do you see our challenges like South Africa?

Kossi AMESSINOU: Thank you, we have more challenge the data center is also a challenge for us We know our country have many cultural Experience to check how many video we have today in Benin two days for voodoo days, for example Every year you have two day for voodoo days. We need to bring all the video Put it available for everyone and let people know our culture very well For that we need data center for this time you have just one data center We need to have another one another big data center, but we need data center We take a solar technology for example to let us Use energy very well because energy also is a challenge for us. We need energy because before use Internet if we don’t have energy we can’t have internet but Energy before water after and we can talk about internet In the third time now what our challenge Data produce it Get it available for everyone. They secure also the accessible Accessible to enter to that data. We have public information also for everyone All our public service public service today is online More of them is online. It’s only the data center People need to access on them. We have one ID for each people in Benin now to access to all your public information you need. You have your ID, we call FID, we do it with a project called WURI. We have WURI project here in the booth here in Riyadh. You can go to our booth and see their action, what we do for our population. Every person in Benin have today one ID, using their all information online. You can ask anything to government, you can ask private people, you can ask civil society, you can ask everything you need to. Maybe with tax, you need to pay your tax, you need to provide also your ID. That is information I want to share this time. Wow, that’s quite impressive. You mean everyone in Benin has ID, national ID?

Jimson Olufuye: That’s quite impressive. Okay, good. Let’s move to Dr. Melissa Sassi. Thank you, Dr. Melissa, because I know you have to wake up very early in the U.S. to join us. You’ve always provided excellent advisory, best practice, using the U.S. experience to enlighten us more on the approach, the regulation in terms of what citizens need to do. Please, what is your view about this? Data sovereignty, a view of how the U.S. is taking data sovereignty very seriously. Thank you, Dr. Sassi.

Melissa Sassi: Exactly, exactly. So I spend a lot of my time working with highly regulated industries. So, you know, financial services is really my focus right now. And, you know, if you think about the kind of data that is collected, you know, no one wants their, you know, sensitive data, you know, in the hands of nefarious characters. Right. So I think, you know, from my perspective, and I put some slides together, but I won’t share my screen just in light. of time, you know, I kind of look at things from a few different perspectives. I look at it in terms of security, you know, privacy, residency, and, you know, kind of the ownership structure, if you will, of the data center. And I kind of also think about it from the perspective of, you know, what’s the impact of, you know, having a, you know, local data center. And in my mind, it’s kind of bigger than just looking at it from a sovereignty perspective. It’s also kind of thinking about what impact on economic growth those data centers, you know, would have in local communities. You know, what it might bring in terms of infrastructure, you know, development, social benefits, you know, support, you know, of local authorities, if you will, you know, in the form of, let’s say, you know, tax revenues for that sales use income, blah, blah, blah. But, you know, those are, I think, some of the some of the pros. You know, I think it gives, you know, local communities or local government, you know, local, you know, people, companies, what have you, you know, increased autonomy, you know, control over their digital ecosystem. And that, you know, kind of ensures, you know, a reduced reliance on, you know, external entities. Naturally, assuming you’ve got the right technical infrastructure set up, you’ve got the right skills, you know, folks who are managing that data center, you have an enhanced, you know, security. And as I mentioned, skills, you know, leads to jobs, blah, blah, blah. But lots of challenges. And I’ve heard some folks, you know, already share some of those, you know, in many cases, many of our communities across the continent or, you know, any other developing countries, there’s inadequate access to reliable internet, communication technologies, even electricity. And it, you know, kind of requires a dependence on, you know, foreign tech. And, you know, in many cases, reliance on, you know, international tech companies. And again, that kind of connects into skills, it could connect into you know, budget access to funding, you know, as one of our colleagues mentioned, running a data center is not, you know, it’s expensive and it takes a lot to stand up a data center, to run that data center. You know, lots of innovation I think is happening, you know, and people I think are looking at the role of, you know, green hydrogen or all of the many innovations that, you know, are possible to bring down the cost of running a data center. But it also kind of, I think, could bring, you know, kind of an overemphasis on, you know, localization and, you know, I’m big on partnership, you know, so what role does, you know, having such stringent, you know, policies, you know, in place, how does that impact collaboration? You know, does it bring more innovation or does it stifle innovation? I think the vote is probably still out on, you know, many of those things, but I think, you know, truth be told, we have, you know, big skills gaps across, you know, many of our countries, including, you know, the developed world. I, you know, I’m not sure where I personally stand, to be honest, I think, when I think about my data, you know, I’d like it to, you know, I’d like to understand where it’s going, whether it’s, you know, be, you know, everything is, you know, being handled appropriately, whether it’s in, you know, in use, in flight, whether it’s being stored. And I think that that same, you know, safety and security needs to be applied, you know, elsewhere. I look forward to seeing, you know, kind of how the world is going to continue to evolve. And I also look forward to seeing more, you know, locally grown countries, especially, or companies, especially, you know, you know, tech ventures. We often think about, you know, innovation coming from the Valley. I think tomorrow is where we see, and even today and yesterday, innovation coming from the village. So, thank you, and let’s go build those villages.

Jimson Olufuye: That’s great. Thank you for that encouragement, that focusing on the… digital sovereignty empowers local businesses and local interests. You also mentioned the issue of collaboration and partnership. And I know Dr. Martin is very vast in the area of collaboration, really capacity development, as has been mentioned. Has GFCE been progressing concerning, you know, handling these challenges? Dr. Martin?

Martin Koyabe: First of all, thank you so much. As introduced earlier, my name is Dr. Martin, and I am involved with GFCE within Africa. Let me shed some light, as my previous colleagues have already shed light on the challenges, but more importantly be guided by the current statistics that we have. When you look at Africa today, we have roughly about just below 100 data centers that are probably of Tier 3, Tier 4 and above. When you look again within Africa, we are not using or optimizing what we call renewable energy in terms of really making sure that we conserve on energy, as alluded by our chair in South Africa and also with Benin, as an example of where energy, we don’t use renewables. I know we have a lot of solar, but on record, I know that there are few countries that do have renewable energy, that are using renewable energy for data center running and so forth. So again, when you look at Africa in terms of its capacity building, which is where we sit, we’ve seen there is a comment that has come out on the skill sets of individuals who can run data centers. So we find the capacity to be able to have skilled engineers to be able to work within data centers is a little bit limited within the continent. Not because we don’t have people, it’s just because we don’t have… the favorable conditions, maybe whether it is incentives that we give to these individuals for them to remain in that particular market. But where I see specific challenges that we’ve seen within the continent is things like, for example, the barriers to international trade. We are seeing that when you have data localization, the rules might be tighter, and therefore what happens is that multinational companies might find it a little bit of a problem to trade within those particular countries. And this is a challenge, which requires also integration so that we can be able to work across borders. In fact, we were in a session this morning talking about borderless Africa, especially when it comes to data. And of course, we can’t be able to have cross-border data transfers because of the trust levels that we have. Infrastructure is not built with our neighbors to the level that we want to trust them in that sense. There’s also the restriction around fragmentation of the market. And here, we are looking at two areas. So there’s one where we look at the isolation in terms of the global market, that is restriction of policies within the least developed countries and developing countries participating in the global digital economy. We are also seeing there is an increased operational cost, meaning that localization requires or rather leads to sometimes inefficiencies, which we don’t use in our own countries. And that sometimes can lead to operational cost. And then the last thing that I really wanted to point out as a barrier that we are seeing is the issue around the impact on the small businesses and startups. I think it has been mentioned here. Let’s look at the statistics. In Africa today, nearly most of the economies of Africa, 75% of their GDP depends on small to medium enterprises. So if that sector is impacted by any of what we are saying here, whether it’s data localization fragmentation of markets, then we are already impacting economically in those particular economies. And I can see two areas. One is the issue around startups will struggle to meet the localization requirements, for example, because it’s very restrictive or very high to afford. Then we also have the issue around limited access to global platform, because by that time when you localize and you don’t provide a platform, then you’re limiting the marketing of this particular startup. So that’s an inhibiting factor. But there could be a light at the end of the tunnel. So what are we trying to do based on what we said? So the first thing we see here is there’s a need for harmonizing policy. We’ve just had a discussion around Africa having a continental data policy that can be adopted by many regions and countries. So there’s a need to harmonize. But even in harmonization, we are calling for what we call layered harmonization. For example, let’s make sure that the infrastructure in ECOWAS countries is up to standard, so that we can be able to build the data centers. Let’s make sure we have a strategy for data centers in terms of the green data centers, which we don’t have a framework in the continent. Let’s have also something that says we have the top-level domain names being used within the countries that we’re talking about. So therefore, the layered approach is so significant. And then the other one is the area around capacity building. And the GFCE, we’ve taken a deliberate and very purposeful approach to actually look at the bottom-up approach. So we are looking at the middle-tier management to train them so that they can have a south-to-south interaction, to bring the experts within the south-to-south collaboration to help converge the development and making sure that we have solutions. I’ll give an example. If there is an engineer in Benin who is well known in doing something, I’m not saying my colleague here, but somebody in Benin. and this person, he or she, has the expertise that we require, then this person can be very useful, one, within the ECOWAS region, or we can take that person to the southern area to be able to help other countries. So the south to south interaction in terms of experience is something that we want to do. The two other points that I want to say, just before I put on the mic, is the PPP. We have to exploit the public-private partnership because the PPPs bring what we call the expertise, the investment, and more importantly, they will be able to solve the problem of this inhibiting of data moving from one country to another and also making sure that countries are able to have proper ecosystem for startups. And then lastly, encourage innovation so that we don’t stifle it. Thank you.

Jimson Olufuye: Fantastic public-private partnership, layered regulation, regulatory framework. We’d be interested in hearing how is it in Japan in terms of data center management, data sovereignty, localization. How is the regime like in terms of business data, citizen data? Are they primarily in Japan or they are outside Japan? Dr. Sakano, please, kindly intervene. Thank you very much, my friend.

Toshikazu Sakano: My name is Toshikazu Sakano from ATR. ATR is Advanced Telecommunication Research Institute based in Kyoto, Japan. And I’m now working for research and development of the ICT for disaster countermeasure. But in the past, I used to work for NTT, the biggest telecom company in Japan. And let me introduce about the data handling. I experienced in NTT, about 2000, 2000 to 2005, NTT Communication, NTT Communication is one of group companies of NTT, and I used to work for that company. In that company, the company has many data centers worldwide, and our company’s data was stored in a data center in Japan, but also in the west coast of the United States, and this data center was interconnected using a submarine optical fiber cable with over 10 gigabit per second, or something like that. So once company created the data, the data is stored in the data center in Japan, but at the same time, the data is transferred to a thousand kilometer away in the west coast data center for security and many other ways. Why we could do that is the west coast data center in the United States was owned and operated by NTT. So the distance and the country, we don’t care. Who is operating, or who owns the data center is a very important issue. And actually, another story, actually 2011, Japan got a big earthquake, and maybe over 20,000 people were dead because of that big earthquake. And at that time, over one million people died. 1.5 million telephone lines are disrupted all the way because of tsunami, big wave. And people in that disaster-afflicted areas, they could not use telephone, but also they could not access to the internet anymore. Under that situation, people were struggling to make their living and looking for missing people and that kind of thing they are doing. So after that big earthquake, I created the new idea of quickly restore the local communication. That we call MDRU, Movable and Deployable Resource Unit, for quick restoration of telephone services. And after that, we moved to not only telephone, but also internet-like services, quick restoration, called LUX, Locally Accessible Cloud System. That kind of system we proposed to ITU-TE and many things I have done. So in the course of proposing and research and development of ICT for disaster recovery, the standalone, very small local cloud system is very useful in very isolated areas. So the data there are localized? Yeah, data is localized. That is one solution. So here is big data center and localized standalone system. So you need to collaborate between big data center and local systems to solve the problem related to… Thank you very much. This is one thing. Thank you.

Jimson Olufuye: Very good. So there’s need to collaborate. There’s need to collaborate. And as a Nigerian, I can see that even in a regulatory framework in Nigeria. Perhaps, Madam Mary, I’m sure the DG, who is the authority in this area, they are the one that gave back to data governance regime in Nigeria and ensuring that data is protected with a lot of regulation and so on and so forth. So, you will intervene later in terms of rounding off, so to speak. But, Ma’am, what is your view? How has Nigeria fared concerning data sovereignty?

Mary Uduma: Thank you. I want to start by telling a story. What happened to us in September. September this year, September, October. In Nigeria, we experienced collapse of and it was a bombing of the financial sector data. So, at a point, you couldn’t access your account because there was issue of security. So, for security reasons, we were not able to access. And I think one was even hacked. One of the banks. I won’t mention the name. I think one of them was hacked. Even the DG was startled and was really concerned about what was happening at that time. And even up to now, there are still banks that are still experiencing some difficulties, right? In localization of data, their system, their data services. We don’t know. I don’t know whether they are hosting all their data locally. or there are some that are not hosted locally. Then NIRA, Nigeria Internet Registration Association, the managers of .ng, in September, October, their machine just stopped working. And some of our websites went down. The website of Nigeria Internet Registration Association, the Nigeria Internet Governance Forum, Ndukwe Kalo Foundation, we are all being hosted by the NIRA data center. So we couldn’t access our network. We couldn’t access our website. So that’s a question for me. Does it work to have it totally nationally located, or do we do plan B as they did for redundancy? That’s one. We have tried in Nigeria, but we are supposed to solve that problem. I also want to look at the demand side. When we don’t have enough data generated within the community or within the nation, we cannot attract the big investors to bring in the big data center. So I don’t know what the volume, the big data you have, that will attract the big data service providers so that we have data center that will accommodate all of us. So as a factor, I think we should look at the demand side of data in our countries in Africa. What happens to that demand side? And again, statistics, let’s do research. Let’s do a lot of research in this, and then we can sell it. We can sell this research, saying to the entity. Yes, asking them that we have enough data generated in our countries, please come and invest, you will see it, and they will come, investing in our countries. Again, there should be international policy by the government to say that our data should remain our data, should remain localized, but there must be a lot of redundancy within all collaboration, as we have listened to, and capacity building, as Martin has said, both for the engineers and the policy makers. We need to build the capacity of the policy makers, and we need to build the capacity of the legislators as well. Thank you.

Jimson Olufuye: Excellent. Excellent. Thank you so much. We need to have real redundancy, very, very important. And we are happy that Dr. Sakano is here, Japan, we invest in the regional data center that will be located in Nigeria, so we have the DG here, so investors are welcome. So this brings us to the end of round one. It’s not working. It’s not working? Okay. Okay, this is working, all right. So this brings us to the end of round one, and I’m going to hand over to my online moderator, the deputy chair of AFICTA, Richard Chitanda, to take the second policy question. Ms. Rachel?

Rachael Shitanda: Hello, everyone. Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. James. Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Jameson, for the warm welcome and also for a very good moderated first session. My name is Rachel Chitanda. I’m the deputy chair for AFICTA, currently based in Nairobi, Kenya. I am a… In my daytime job, I’m a CEO for a company called Pamba Tech. So I’m excited to be here today and also to moderate this session. And so we’ll dive in right to our next question. To our panelists, how can the DLDC’s balance objective of digital sovereignty with the benefits of cross-border data flows for the economic growth and innovation as we are addressing the challenges of digital sovereignty and data localization? I think we have already mentioned a bit of this in the session about localization of data and how cross-border data can affect economic growth. But I want for us to dive a bit deeper into the conversation and discuss that. I will start with our first speaker, our chair, Madam Yolande Ekster.

Ulandi Exner: Thank you so much, moderator, as well as my deputy chair, Olufiksa. While I was listening to some of our members, I have some comments and recommendations in terms of how we can address, how we can balance the objectives of digital sovereignty with the benefits of cross-border data flow. But while I was listening to some of the comments mentioned and some of the discussion points, something that really does concern me and is something that we really have to perhaps get a handle on is, do we actually know where our data is located? So yes, we are talking about infrastructure. We’ve got data centers internationally or locally. But do we, can we hang on hard, say that we know where our data is stored? As soon as we submit our data, whether it’s it’s being for government submissions or even personal. Do we as individuals know that our data is being stored locally or it’s being stored internationally? So that’s just one of the concerns that I have in terms of whether we really know where our data resides and who has access to our data? Who is responsible for that data? Who has ownership of that data? Who’s the custodian of the data? So that’s just something that’s been rattling my mind. I mean, it has been rattling my mind for quite some time, but it’s just brought it to the fore again now. So, and that is why it is very important that we do have an understanding of where our data resides. And I think legislation is very, very important. We do need to understand that legislation needs to support us in the sense that if we’re saying that the data can only reside locally, we also have to have a regulator that has some teeth, that is able to enforce regulation. So, we might have in instances a regulator that doesn’t really have much force and perhaps just slaps the organization with a small fine. So it is really important that we do have an understanding of where our data resides. So, be that as it may, perhaps it is important that, or it may be a need that we have data residing in different continents or in different countries. So what is then very important is that we have to perhaps look at select localization. So we’re very specific in terms of what data is stored locally. So if sensitive data and personal data stored locally, and less sensitive and less personal data is stored, perhaps across our borders. So perhaps also to encourage some of the challenges or to address some of the. challenges around digital sovereignty and data localization effectively. We need to incentivize innovation. We need to offer incentives for tech startups and businesses to innovate locally while we’re still engaging in global markets. We also need to, coming back to ensuring that we have an understanding of where our data resides, we need to have cross-border cross-border data flow agreements. Because again, we might find ourselves in a situation where there’s been some cyber breach and we need to be able to bring those, as Dr. Sassi says, nefarious people to book. And we need to be able to have cross-border agreements to ensure that if there are any cyber activities or cyber criminal activities that are taking place, we can address them accordingly. Other than that, Chair, Moderator, I think I’ll leave it at that stage. Thank you for the question.

Rachael Shitanda: Thank you so much, Madam Chair, for that insightful feedback and contribution to the conversation. I’ll go back to Dr. Martin. You mentioned a bit about a need for collaboration in terms of policymaking and also how can we put this in terms of helping, for example, we can see the GDRC and how they’ve been able to manage to improve localization of information and also collaboration around policies on data in Europe and Asia as well, have similar policies framework among some member countries. How can Africa do in order to enable the collaboration and also how can this also help us in terms of economic development and also sovereignty as well. To you, Dr. Martin.

Martin Koyabe: Okay, thank you very much. Let me try and put this into perspective because I know we’ve got other speakers who will talk after me. First of all, within the continent we do have what we call the data policy framework that has been established at the AU level. This is a document that actually helps to guide around how we govern data. There are two dichotomies here. One is when we talk about data governance we are not really referring as controlling data but ideally we are saying how do we govern data within a jurisdiction and there has to be a concerted effort in terms of harmonizing whether it’s policy or regulation especially at regional level. We know various countries have their own national policies, they have their own national legislations but the idea here would be at the regional level and the regional economic communities have a very very strong opportunity and we know ECOWAS are doing a good job, SADC are doing a good job and others to make sure that they can have that regional harmony. We are also seeing continental agreements being able to be fostered. For example the Africa continental free trade area. These agreements do bring together African countries to be able to trade among themselves so we expect data to move from boundary to boundary. Therefore when you look at the requirements of these agreements they would only say that data will move from one boundary to another but they don’t do the prescriptive composition of how that can be achieved. So it is the how that needs to be understood so that it’s more flexible, more agile and it does not stifle innovation. So that’s one thing that we really need to see. The other point is to make sure that we do not necessarily we need to understand the data sets. There’s a possibility that within each country we can understand what’s the actual data that needs to be shared, and what’s the data that should not be shared. So therefore, Chair, I would urge that under this understanding, we should not just talk about data per se, but we should be more descriptive, and say, is this the data that needs to be shared? Because to be honest, there’s some specific data that just needs to be shared. But there’s some data that we agree that should not be shared. And therefore, this frugal, the conservative way of how we look at data could be an enabler to move us to the next stage, rather than blanketing data as it is. Then the last point that I really want to put across is that we really need to emphasize on skills. And when I’m talking about skills here, we are talking about sustainable skills. Because what we have today is people get trained, they go back to their institutions. Because the institutions don’t pay them well, they leave. So we don’t have anything to do with loyalty that is built in. We don’t have anything that does with incentivizing these individuals to be able to be there. One of the areas that we could intervene is that we should concentrate in investing in the middle tier management within the government. Because these are the individuals who actually do the work. I’m not saying that our top level managers are not doing the work. But we’ve got more talking than doing the work. So let’s concentrate on investing in that. And then let’s also give them the incentive to do that. The other point here that I would like us to put up is the institutional memory. When we talk about policymakers, when we talk about leaders, parliamentarians and others, they come and go. What happens to those institutions? How do those institutions… ensure that the next government and the next government will come in and they will be able to propagate the same institutional memory that we have. Many countries in the world that are doing well in this space always insist on specific institutional memory to be carried forward into the next generation. So we have this cycle of politicians or cycle of political cycle that really brings us back to square A. What we want to do is when there’s a political change keep the policies that are good as alluded by our moderator about policy and then continue those policies so that we don’t have policies dying because the government has left. Thank you Chair.

Rachael Shitanda: Thank you so much for that intervention Dr. Martin. I would also like to ask Dr. Toshikazu to also contribute a bit and add on what Martin has said in terms of data, cross-border data and security in regards to what you also contributed first that is maybe how secure can the data be and how as a recovery mechanism can country use the opportunity for cross-border data sharing in disaster management and also continuity of also economic growth as we focus on the policy question.

Toshikazu Sakano: Okay, thank you very much and let me talk a bit about this cross-border data flowing from the point of view of digital surveillance. The key word is layer. and layer structure and layer management and layer operation. What I mean is, the user internet has a structure of layer. Physical layer and IP layer and application layer, something like that. And business structure is almost the same as this layer structure. So physical layer, most telecom company are responsible for mainly for physical layer. IP layer, ISP is responsible for that. And application layer, many big service companies, SNS and Google and many companies are responsible for providing the application layer services. So this layer structure is very important. And we should be strictly keep this structure. And looking at the physical layer, data center, you can see the physical layer, IP layer, application layer, you can see the same thing. So once data center is structured and operated, in the physical layer, then for the data center, engineers need to operate the computers and the storage and once the computer is broken, they need to replace something like that. So that is the chance to grow the engineer if you have the data center in your country. So look at the semiconductor industry. So what is the semiconductor industry? The biggest company for production is TSMC, based in Taiwan. They are focusing on and you can say physical layer of semiconductor for the country. They don’t design the semiconductors, but they focus on the production. The same thing happens in the IT sector. So if you have data center in your country and start operating it, then the engineers start growing. And cross-border data will be increasing, and that will contribute to the country’s economy. This is the kind of viewpoint. Okay, thank you very much.

Rachael Shitanda: Thank you so much, Dr. Toshikazu. I’ll go to Melissa. On this question of cross-border data sharing, and in terms of your experience in policy making, what do you think is your contribution in terms of how cross-border data can foster economic and also innovation, as we also address the digital sovereignty and localization? Dr. Melissa.

Melissa Sassi: Yeah, so I’ve spent just the last 10 years working on tech innovation. Before that, financial services, I did a couple of stints on Wall Street. And about a year ago, I kind of looked at the number of companies that I’ve worked with around the world. And I realized that I had an opportunity to work with 250 companies, 250 founders, probably more, because some of the companies had multiple co-founders, across 80 countries. They had kind of went on to raise half a billion dollars in investment capital. And those companies now are worth a collective total of. $2.7 billion. And as I looked at that, I said, wow, you know, these, these, you know, innovation can come from anywhere. But, you know, I think that there is a, you know, strong connection between having, you know, a strong, you know, tech, having strong technical, you know, infrastructure locally. And, you know, it, as I mentioned before, I think, you know, brings jobs and also brings, you know, this concept in my mind that, you know, technology is kind of an equalizer, if you will. And, you know, I think it enables, you know, local people, again, from any village anywhere to think about what is it that I can solve? What is it that I can do in my, you know, local community to bringing innovation, whether that’s, you know, for that data center, or, you know, any other, any other, you know, kind of product service, whatever, that, you know, might be relevant. And I was looking at something, I’m just gonna, you know, you can’t see my screen, but I’m gonna flip it over. I was looking at something around, you know, the size of data centers, you know, in terms of, you know, power consumption. And, you know, 10 years ago, you know, a 30 megawatt data center was, you know, considered large. You know, today, you know, data centers, you know, are, you know, let’s say normal, a normal data center, nobody’s, you know, kind of blinking an eye at, you know, 200 megawatts, and, you know, and much bigger, you know, as we think about, you know, the compute power that is, you know, required for, you know, AI workloads, you know, that impacts, you know, energy consumption, it impacts, you know, local communities. So I think, again, that also brings innovation, if you wake up, you know, today, and you your village is not electrified, you don’t have access to, to the internet, you know, what role could, you know, building data centers in, you know, whatever country it is, again, across the continent or anywhere else, you know, what role could that play to enable, you know, local, local people anywhere to think about. a role bigger from a workforce development perspective than in the local community. That said, I think whether these predictions are right or wrong, that’s to be determined. But I was reading a study also recently saying that in the future, it’s expected that the hyperscalers, that would be your Microsoft’s, AWS’s, you know, Google, others, should take about 60 to 65% of, you know, let’s say cloud, you know, having hosted in the cloud, whereas, you know, hosted, let’s say privately, or maybe not necessarily, you know, with one of the hyperscalers at like 35 to 40%. You know, who knows what’s what’s going to happen with that. But I also was kind of thinking about another thing. And I was looking at a kind of new list, you know, and I think came out probably the end of last year. And there’s always, you know, a lot of innovation that’s happening again, everywhere. And it lists kind of a really interesting innovations that’s happening around the world, some in local communities, and some from, you know, innovators, wherever they may come from, and what they’re, you know, what they’re working on, what they’re doing. So you know, what I was able to kind of look at in terms of trends was, you know, a cooling technology, you know, how can you, you know, provide, you know, solutions that, you know, enable, you know, different tech solutions that bring more, you know, sustainable, you know, data center, you know, running a more sustainable data center. I also saw some, you know, really interesting things around, you know, efficiency, again, you know, kind of cooling, eliminating water, thinking about chemical usage, and, you know, the impact that that has on, you know, on the climate, which in many cases, you know, impacts, you know, developing nations at a, you know, more, you know, at a larger rate. And I also looked at, you know, some of the innovation that’s happening in terms of you know, compute capabilities and how can, you know, these data centers really think about performance density and availability? You know, how can, you know, innovation impact, you know, bring about, let’s say, zero impact, you know, on the environment? I mentioned earlier, you know, green hydrogen, you know, how can local communities think about planning and building, you know, energy efficient, you know, solutions that are, you know, trusted, you know, secure and, you know, having the right level of, you know, data center, you know, or security, privacy, blah, blah, blah. You know, we’ll see how, how things, you know, continue to, you know, transpire. But as I mentioned, I am always very excited about the innovation that can come from a village versus always hearing about what’s happening, you know, in the valley.

Rachael Shitanda: So thank you. Thank you so much for the contribution. It’s always nice to hear from you, Melissa. Very knowledgeable and resourceful. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. I think I’ll give a chance to Mrs. Mary Uduma to just tell us a bit about how as a civil society champion, champion of the people and the society, what is your take on data localization and how that can impact the society? How can it impact human beings in terms of their rights, their socio-economic aspects? On to you, Mary. Okay. Thank you. Just to know that we are short of time.

Mary Uduma: Data is universal. Data is everywhere. I don’t know whether we can hold back data. there’s good data without borders. But when we talk about cross-border data, cross-border data flow, there are legal issues that will be involved, there’s the economic issues which Melissa had enumerated, I don’t want to go into. There are the regulatory issues, data governance, data protection, and you know, some countries, you may have developed your own data protection and it becomes now very difficult to relate with the other people that, the other countries that your data will flow. So they don’t have data protection law and it becomes a difficult thing for us in the civil society. We want to flow from Nigeria to South Africa without restriction. When we get there, our data, we’ll be able to get our data and work on that or use it. But where we don’t have the same level of development in terms of regulatory issues, we have problem. There’s security issues also. For us, we want to be secured when we move from one country to the other and when we are looking at our data. Our data should be protected, it should be secured, whether it’s flowing into another country or it’s within our country. So the cross-border data flow is very, very critical for us and we also want to look at, you know, policies or cooperation where we could have the multi-stakeholder cooperation or multi-stakeholder groups coming together to say, this is my issue when it comes to data flow. The academia will say this is our issue and all that and we sit on a round table and find solution to just as we are doing now. Thank you.

Rachael Shitanda: Thank you, Mrs. Mary Oduma. I’ll go to Dr. Kosi. What is your take on this policy question on how this can affect the socio-economic, the innovation, and also governance of the same? Maybe you can give us your piece of wisdom on that.

Kossi AMESSINOU: Thank you, Moderator. Data is very important for government, because when we don’t have data, we don’t have also money. We need data to know who is there to pay tasks, for example. That is very important for government. We have to know security of data is very important. We can’t share any kind of data. It’s not possible. For some sharing, we need convention between two countries or our country and some big companies. That is very important also to know. But whatever, we have some specific big countries who have their own data center. They are putting there their information like bank, finance, and all of specific big countries have their own data. But we’re supposed to have backup on national data centers also, and let government and their system protect the data, because if we have any problem on data in any country, government is firstly affected. People are not possible to attain their money. That is a problem for government first, before we are talking about civil society and so on. That is very important. We need to have for that, we need to be identified online. to let security people do their job very clearly and simply. That is very important for us too. Thank you.

Jimson Olufuye: Thank you so much, Dr. Kosi. I think, Dr. Jimson, I think I have exhausted all the speakers. Thank you. I think we can go to our next session. Yes, yes. Thank you so much, Deputy Chair, Ms. Rachel Chitanda, for doing justice to that round. Time is already well spent. We just have barely 15 minutes. Time runs so fast. I want to give opportunity to our special guest of honor this occasion. That’s the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency. He has done a lot. I know it. I don’t want to say anything because he is the authority to speak. That is my brother, you know.

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi: Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Jimson. And I’m super excited to be here with you this afternoon. And I’m really honored to contribute to this conversation. In Nigeria, for the past six months, we’ve been working with the ecosystem on this issue of digital sovereignty. For us, when you talk about digital sovereignty, it’s beyond data sovereignty. You need to look at the operations sovereignty, the infrastructure sovereignty, even the talent sovereignty. Like Madam Mary shared the challenges we are experiencing with our banking sector, which has a result of just a regulation for them to upgrade this co-banking application. The co-banking application is developed in another country which they upgraded using it and still they are grappling to even go back to the previous standard where they are. Even yesterday I tried to use my bank. A lot of features were no more there. So for me this is part of sovereignty also. As a nation we should be able to control our digital future. So we’ve been working with all the data center providers, the ecosystem, the hyperscalers and so on, on how to achieve that sovereignty. And also I hear a lot of data sovereignty, localization, residency and so on. So we need to create clarity about it. What is sovereignty? Sovereignty is not the same thing with residency. It’s not the same thing with localization. So when you talk about sovereignty, it’s about having, applying laws of country where the data is stored. So you can have your data anywhere. It will respect the laws of that country as well as it can respect your laws. So that cannot in any way affect cross-border data flow. So you can agree even with the hyperscalers to have your data staying anywhere, but that data must comply with your country’s laws and regulation. While residency has nothing to do with even laws and regulations, but mostly they look at it where you can store your data for tax incentives and other things. But the big question is localization, which talks about storing and processing data in a country where it is created. So for me the question or the answer to this… this challenge is we need to come up with data classification because there are sensitive data that cannot go beyond borders. And even today we are talking about even creating cloud infrastructure for military services and other things. Because today we are using the same cloud infrastructure for military, for intelligence, for civilian, which is not good for any country. In case of any war or something, if your military infrastructure is attacked, it will affect the civilian. So countries need to create that cloud sovereignty. So we are working hard within Nigeria. We had an issue of working with one of hyperscalers to help us develop cloud-first strategy. But you know, most of the time business people, they will help you, but they are there for profit. Whatever they do, they will try to benefit from it. And we have a local content regulation that talks about data localization in Nigeria, which is in clash with the cloud-first policy So now we are working with all the local data center providers, the hyperscalers, how can we get them to come and have a zone or data centers in Nigeria. On 10th of December, Huawei launched its local zone in Nigeria. So we are working with others. We are engaging them to see how they can come to build data center or even to use a local data centers to have zones in Nigeria. So most of them, they are asking of data challenges in Africa or we are not. ready but they don’t have a clear answers to what they want us to do for them to come to African countries. So but we are engaging them we know most of them they look at the energy source, they look at the land availability, they look at the talents which we all have this. So and the only way to achieve that is through that negotiation and dialogue which we believe very soon we’ll have them coming to Africa, coming to Nigeria so that we can build on data because if you look at today our internet traffic more than 85% of transatlantic traffic is on content and most of this content we access our own hyperscalers and they are created locally. You hardly see a Nigerian watching movies or music from other part of the world but they we all watch them on YouTube and so on. So why can’t we localize them and you spoke about it is beyond just national security but the economic impact of it that’s the most important and when you talk about AI today you cannot trend your foundational model over public cloud. We need to have that compute power in our countries we even need to have age compute power across the country so that we can upload our data and trend the algorithm. So thank you very much it’s quite interesting I will take some of the feedback to shape the work we are doing on attracting the hyperscalers to Nigeria and Africa.

Audience: Thank you. Excellent thank you very much DG. Well I’m going to throw this open to the audience just one question or one comment. Can you do it in one minute? Hello, good afternoon everyone. My name is Berhard Fares. I’m from Indonesia and currently I’m studying in Tsinghua University for my master degree and my research is all about digital sovereignty. So I’ve been researching this for several years so I’m really interested with the topic. So basically I already add LinkedIn to all of you guys. Please accept me on LinkedIn. And we can talk more about it later. But the thing is, regarding to my thesis as well, basically we have to have a clear understanding about what digital sovereignty is. Because like I see every single people, every single country have its own perspective of what digital sovereignty is and it’s quite hard to to be in the same frequency because like there is so many things to measure, right? So I hope that we can conclude with this through this event and through my research as well later on I can get feedback from you and I can get your source so I can build my measurement tools and the global definition of digital sovereignty. That’s it. Thank you.

Jimson Olufuye: That’s wonderful. Berhard assured that we are more than ready to support your research because we believe in research a lot. Well, we’re coming gradually to the conclusion of this session and it has been quite illuminating and there has been a number of points shared so we’re looking at takeaways and a call to action. Well, digital sovereignty I think DG got it right. Because when you talk about digital you’re talking about ICTs, you’re talking about different segments of the information communication technology and we need to classify. from that, classified data. I had a bid, I’m a businessman, and I was to tender for a project, a cloud project, and if I were to use a local data center, I would never have won that project. But because it was a kind of commercial or academic data, so it’s not top secret data, so I could use cloud in the US, which a company have a data center, and with that, I got very competitive pricing, and with that, we won the bid. So there is a provision, the law in Nigeria, that say, okay, for government data, you must, if you are to host it overseas, you must get approval. But basically, at default, it must be hosted in Nigeria, which is a good one, that segmented the classified public data from commercial data. So that is smart regulation, which I really want to encourage other countries to emulate. With that, we can still do our business, we can transition gradually, to building a more robust local data center. So with regard to takeaways, we have discussed extensively, and we identified that, yes, we need to build capacity locally, we need to build an economy, we need to have an economic rollout with data sovereignty, and that we should not forget about cross-border data flow, with regard to cross-border trade, which is indefensible to prosperity, even though digital sovereignty is imperative. Mention the AU digital data policy framework, so we need to work with that, okay? And then, also, we look at… The cost, the cost of having this locally is high. So I just illustrated with the business, so we have to look for, classify the data. And then also electricity is a major challenge that has been identified, but I’m happy to say here that we deploy for a client, 10 years ago, we deployed a data center for a client 10 years ago, and it’s been running using just solar. We deploy solar and everything running 24 sevens for 10 years, even with some cooling system, even though it might not be like tier four, tier three, but at least it serves their need. So we have the capability locally to really, you know, deploy the experiences there to really make this happen. Then we got to call to action. I think we talk about security, therefore countries that are yet to sign the Malabo Convention should do so. And then the WTO, ITA2 agreements, we need to look at that and be signatory to that. Many are signatory to Budapest Convention. Those are yet to be, they should be connected to that. And then we have the issue of data abuse, breaches all over the place, and that’s give back to lack of confidence in a way. But we have new metrics. There is a new metrics that will help us to even do assessment. It’s available on tcmm.africa, tcmm.africa. You can check it out. It will help the organization or businesses or even government to check the assessment level, to assess themselves, identify the gaps. And all this we are discussing measure to the sustainable development goal. We must not forget, we want to have no hunger, we want to achieve prosperity, and we want to ensure that the Global Data Compact that was signed in September. 2024 in the U.S. at the UNGA is realized by 2030. So on this note I want to thank all our speakers and the moderator, our chair, Ms. Sulandi Esna, thank you so much for taking the time for your insightful speech. Dr. Kosi, thank you. Appreciate you. Dr. Melissa Sessi, thank you again. When we call, you always respond. And Dr. Toshiki Sakano, thank you very much for those perspectives. Dr. Martins, as always, thank you. And the Amazon, Ms. Mary Uduma, thank you always on the point. And of course, very importantly, I want to thank our DG, Kashiwe Nwa Abdullahi, for that pungent contribution. And to the students, thank you. And everybody, thank you. Oh, I can see the Grand Master of Internet Governance there. Thank you very much for supporting the upcoming Masters. So on this note, I want to say thank you to all the participants online. Thank you again, Deputy Chair Richard Sitanda. This brings to the conclusion of this session. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, everyone. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

Agreement Points

Need for local data centers and infrastructure

Ulandi Exner

Toshikazu Sakano

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

High infrastructure and capital costs for local data centers

Importance of having local data centers for economic growth and job creation

Need for data classification to determine what can be stored locally vs. internationally

Speakers agreed on the importance of developing local data center infrastructure, while acknowledging the challenges and costs associated with it.

Importance of capacity building and skills development

Ulandi Exner

Martin Koyabe

Mary Uduma

Limited local technical expertise to run data centers

Need for sustainable skills development and retention of trained personnel

Importance of building capacity of policymakers and legislators

Multiple speakers emphasized the need for developing local technical expertise and building capacity across various stakeholders.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlighted the need for harmonized policies and agreements to facilitate cross-border data flows while addressing legal and regulatory challenges.

Martin Koyabe

Mary Uduma

Need for cross-border data agreements and harmonized policies

Legal and regulatory challenges with cross-border data sharing

Both speakers emphasized the economic importance of data flows, either for innovation and business opportunities or for government functions.

Melissa Sassi

Kossi AMESSINOU

Cross-border data flows enable innovation and economic opportunities

Government need for data to collect taxes and provide services

Unexpected Consensus

Balancing data sovereignty with practical considerations

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

Jimson Olufuye

Need for data classification to determine what can be stored locally vs. internationally

Need for smart regulation that segments classified government data from commercial data

Both speakers, representing different stakeholder groups, agreed on the need for a nuanced approach to data sovereignty that considers practical business needs while protecting sensitive data.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement included the need for local data infrastructure, capacity building, harmonized policies for cross-border data flows, and a balanced approach to data sovereignty.

Consensus level

Moderate consensus was observed among speakers on key issues. This suggests a shared understanding of the challenges and potential solutions related to digital sovereignty in developing countries, which could facilitate more coordinated efforts in addressing these issues.

Different Viewpoints

Approach to data localization

Ulandi Exner

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

High infrastructure and capital costs for local data centers

Need for data classification to determine what can be stored locally vs. internationally

While Ulandi Exner emphasizes the challenges of building local data centers due to high costs, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi suggests a more nuanced approach through data classification to determine what needs to be stored locally.

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around the approach to data localization, the balance between cross-border data flows and local data storage, and the prioritization of economic benefits versus data sovereignty.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among the speakers is moderate. While there are differing perspectives on how to approach digital sovereignty and data localization, there is a general consensus on the importance of balancing economic growth, innovation, and data protection. These differences in approach highlight the complexity of the issue and the need for nuanced, context-specific solutions that take into account the varying needs and capabilities of different countries.

Partial Agreements

Both speakers agree on the need for cross-border data agreements, but they differ in their focus. Martin Koyabe emphasizes regional and continental harmonization, while Mary Uduma highlights the challenges arising from different levels of data protection laws between countries.

Martin Koyabe

Mary Uduma

Need for cross-border data agreements and harmonized policies

Legal and regulatory challenges with cross-border data sharing

Both speakers agree on the importance of economic growth and innovation, but they differ in their approaches. Melissa Sassi emphasizes the benefits of cross-border data flows, while Toshikazu Sakano focuses on the importance of local data centers for job creation and skill development.

Melissa Sassi

Toshikazu Sakano

Cross-border data flows enable innovation and economic opportunities

Importance of having local data centers for economic growth and job creation

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers highlighted the need for harmonized policies and agreements to facilitate cross-border data flows while addressing legal and regulatory challenges.

Martin Koyabe

Mary Uduma

Need for cross-border data agreements and harmonized policies

Legal and regulatory challenges with cross-border data sharing

Both speakers emphasized the economic importance of data flows, either for innovation and business opportunities or for government functions.

Melissa Sassi

Kossi AMESSINOU

Cross-border data flows enable innovation and economic opportunities

Government need for data to collect taxes and provide services

Key Takeaways

Resolutions and Action Items

Unresolved Issues

Suggested Compromises

Do we actually know where our data is located? So yes, we are talking about infrastructure. We’ve got data centers internationally or locally. But do we, can we hang on hard, say that we know where our data is stored?

speaker

Ulandi Exner

reason

This comment challenges the fundamental assumptions of the discussion by questioning whether we truly have control over or knowledge of our data’s location, even when discussing data sovereignty.

impact

It shifted the conversation to consider the practical challenges of implementing data sovereignty policies and the need for greater transparency in data storage practices.

When you talk about digital sovereignty, it’s beyond data sovereignty. You need to look at the operations sovereignty, the infrastructure sovereignty, even the talent sovereignty.

speaker

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

reason

This comment expands the concept of digital sovereignty beyond just data, introducing a more comprehensive view that includes multiple aspects of digital infrastructure and capabilities.

impact

It broadened the scope of the discussion, encouraging participants to consider sovereignty in terms of operations, infrastructure, and human capital, not just data storage.

We need to come up with data classification because there are sensitive data that cannot go beyond borders. And even today we are talking about even creating cloud infrastructure for military services and other things.

speaker

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

reason

This comment introduces the crucial concept of data classification as a solution to balancing data sovereignty with the need for cross-border data flows.

impact

It led to a more nuanced discussion about how different types of data might require different levels of sovereignty protection, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach.

We deploy solar and everything running 24 sevens for 10 years, even with some cooling system, even though it might not be like tier four, tier three, but at least it serves their need.

speaker

Jimson Olufuye

reason

This comment provides a practical, real-world example of how renewable energy can be used to address the energy challenges of data centers in developing countries.

impact

It shifted the discussion towards more practical, implementable solutions to the challenges of digital sovereignty, particularly in addressing energy concerns.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by expanding the concept of digital sovereignty beyond just data location, introducing the need for nuanced approaches through data classification, highlighting practical challenges in implementation, and offering real-world solutions to infrastructure challenges. The discussion evolved from theoretical concepts to more practical considerations and potential solutions, while also broadening the scope of what digital sovereignty entails.

How can we create a clear, globally accepted definition and measurement tools for digital sovereignty?

speaker

Berhard Fares

explanation

Different countries and individuals have varying perspectives on digital sovereignty, making it difficult to align on a common understanding and approach.

What specific requirements do hyperscalers need to establish data centers in African countries?

speaker

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

explanation

Understanding these requirements could help attract more investment in local data infrastructure and improve digital sovereignty.

How can countries develop separate cloud infrastructure for military and civilian use to enhance security?

speaker

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi

explanation

This separation could prevent civilian infrastructure from being affected in case of attacks on military systems.

What incentives can be offered to encourage tech startups and businesses to innovate locally while still engaging in global markets?

speaker

Ulandi Exner

explanation

This could help balance digital sovereignty with the benefits of cross-border data flows.

How can countries implement effective cross-border data flow agreements to address cybersecurity concerns?

speaker

Ulandi Exner

explanation

Such agreements could help combat cyber criminal activities across borders while maintaining data sovereignty.

How can we ensure institutional memory in government agencies to maintain consistent policies on digital sovereignty across political cycles?

speaker

Martin Koyabe

explanation

This could prevent policies from being abandoned due to changes in government and ensure long-term progress.

What strategies can be employed to develop and retain skilled professionals for managing local data centers in developing countries?

speaker

Martin Koyabe

explanation

Addressing the skills gap is crucial for implementing and maintaining digital sovereignty initiatives.

How can developing countries leverage renewable energy sources like solar to address the energy challenges associated with local data centers?

speaker

Jimson Olufuye

explanation

Sustainable energy solutions could help overcome one of the major obstacles to establishing local data infrastructure.