Preamble
AFFIRMING that data ownership and sovereignty are of paramount importance, recognizing the need for African nations, institutions, and individuals to retain control and authority over their valuable data, thereby ensuring its protection, integrity, and use for the benefit of the continent;
CONSIDERING the critical necessity of securing and maintaining data sovereignty across Africa to unlock the immense value of data, drive economic and social progress, and ensure that the wealth generated by data remains within Africa, contributing to regional development,
innovation, and self-reliance;
STRESSING the imperative to strengthen policies of inclusion that bridge cultural, religious, and political divides, ensuring that all individuals—including those living in poverty and persons with disabilities—participate fully, while also fostering gender balance and diversity;
RECOGNIZING the importance of respecting cultural and religious diversity, and the incorporation of traditional knowledge into digital decision-making processes, vocabularies, and ontologies, ensuring that these principles are upheld in all aspects of digital participation;
ACKNOWLEDGING the need for data representation in AI and related fields to accurately reflect Africa’s diverse cultures and realities, preventing biases and promoting fairness in digital technologies;
ASSERTING that responsible AI depends fundamentally on the quality of data, requiring accurate, diverse, and ethically sourced information to ensure fairness, transparency, and reliability in AI systems. The
Importance of Science and Skills
RECOGNIZING the necessity of strengthening academic, research, and innovation excellence to accelerate collaboration in open science and advance the societal value of African academic institutions;
AFFIRMING that a well-developed health data space, coupled with a strong commitment to public well-being, is central to advancing a healthy and equitable African society;
EMPHASIZING that effective management of health data, and prioritizing public health initiatives, are crucial for improving health outcomes, promoting longevity, and ensuring equitable access to healthcare resources across the continent;
RECOGNIZING the significance of collaborating with African and international institutions to advance academic diplomacy and foster a culture of academic collaboration for the collective societal benefit of Africa;
STRESSING the importance of building capacity at all levels—research, teaching, and applied skills—to enhance data-driven solutions to challenges across all disciplines, including science, healthcare, and industry;
SUPPORTING the sharing of knowledge on federated learning techniques across disciplines and institutions while maintaining regulatory compliance and ethical standards in all areas.
System and Architecture
ACKNOWLEDGING that the academic community in Africa has embraced the principles of Findable, Accessible (under well-defined conditions), Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) Data, promoting these as part of a broader commitment to FAIR Open Science in alignment with global Open Science principles;
EMPHASIZING the importance of collaboration in the development of open data techniques for the curation, repository management, sharing, interoperability, and reuse of data, while ensuring that the value of research data is retained within African academic institutions;
RECOGNIZING the necessity of establishing common standards for data stewardship and curation, grounded in open science principles, to accelerate data science across all disciplines within Africa;
SUPPORTING the collaboration on federated, distributed data spaces that enhance the value of data for African institutions and promote intra-continental collaboration;
STRESSING the significance of local data storage to enhance data sovereignty, improve control and security, and ensure compliance with African regional regulations, while supporting the development of robust data management practices aligned with local priorities and safeguards;
ACKNOWLEDGING the engineering expertise and capacity present on the African continent, which competes at the highest levels worldwide, showcasing Africa’s ability to contribute to global advancements in technology and innovation;
RECOGNIZING the innovative capacity of Africa to solve its own challenges with homegrown solutions that address the unique needs of the continent.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
- This Assembly shall facilitate collaboration and exchanges among regional and national parliamentary bodies to enhance their capacity to foster data interoperability across borders in Africa, improving the integration and accessibility of data for policy, program oversight, budgetary matters, and legislative activities.
- AU Member States are encouraged to establish mechanisms for effective oversight and accountability in the engagement between the Executive and Legislative branches of government, as well as between parliaments and civil society, with a specific focus on data ownership and the promotion of common standards.
- This Assembly underlines the importance of taking proactive measures to maintain data sovereignty in Africa by establishing mechanisms that enhance local data storage and management.
- This Assembly resolves to agree on a minimum standard that allows for maximum freedom of operation in data curation, reuse, and querying, while ensuring the entire process adheres to ethical compliance and safeguards data integrity.
- Relevant committees within the Pan-African Parliament, including those on science, innovation, and transport, are encouraged to remain actively engaged on matters of data sovereignty, FAIR and Open Science, and to foster collaboration on shared standards and increased cross-border data-sharing cooperation.