This October, Research ICT Africa is proud to collaborate with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the Information Society Division of the African Union Commission (AUC) as a co-convenor for the 14th edition of the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG), hosted in Accra, Ghana, from 27 October to 1 November 2026.
This year, in addition to its overview of internet and digital policy, AfriSIG focuses on AI governance in Africa. Supporting this focus, Research ICT Africa’s Just AI Framework of Inquiry will play a key role in framing the debate, and will act as an anchor point for the much-anticipated practicum, a simulated policy analysis and multistakeholder negotiation process that provides participants with practical experience in consensus-building and drafting policy documentation.
During the practicum, participants will work in five stakeholder groups: government and other public sector institutions, civil society and academia, private sector, the technical community, and observers from the media and international organisations. During this experience, AfriSIG fellows will use a Just AI lens to support the harmonised implementation of the African Union Continental AI Strategy, gaining a deeper understanding of multistakeholder policy processes through critical engagement with a diverse range of sectoral perspectives.
Supporting this learning process are RIA staff, Dr Pria Chetty, Dr Kola Ijasan, Diana Nyakundi and Mpho Moyo, who form part of the expert faculty.
This intensive, interactive learning and leadership focuses on the following topics:
The curriculum will include:
- AI, digitalisation, sustainable development, and digital inequality and inclusion;
- The internet governance ecosystem;
- The African institutional context at national, regional and continental levels
- Roles and responsibilities of governments, parliaments, intergovernmental forums, UN agencies (e.g. UNESCO and the ITU), regulators, civil society, the private sector, academia and the technical community;
- Open internet architecture, infrastructure, standards, protocols, and the management of internet names and numbers;
- Data governance, internet governance and social issues;
- Cybersecurity, trust and safety;
- Platform regulation;
- Emerging issues such as the digital economy and labour, the environmental impact of technologies, digital sovereignty, and the geopolitics of internet governance; and
- Current processes and debates, including the WSIS+20 review outcome document; implementation of the Global Digital Compact, the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence; the Global Dialogue on AI Governance; and other relevant developments.
This event is hosted in collaboration with the Africa Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Secretariat, hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, in close partnership with the United Nations IGF Secretariat and its Parliamentary Track and the host of the 2026 Africa IGF, the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation of Ghana.
