Data, power and participation: towards the ethical adoption of tech

• Date: Monday 2 December 2024
• Time: 15:00–19:00 (EAT)
• Location: iHub (Jahazi Building, 154 James Gichuru Road, Nairobi, Kenya) & online

Join us for CDAC Network’s 2024 Public Forum and drinks reception on Monday 2 December at the iHub in Nairobi, Kenya as we explore community participation in data and AI.

This year’s Public Forum will ask: what could accountable AI design and governance look like? Who controls the data shaping humanitarian action? Whose ethics should guide the take-up of tech in conflicts and crises? What information and tools do crisis-affected communities need to play a central role in decision-making?

As data-driven and generative machine learning solutions rapidly evolve, they bring incredible promise to enhance participation at scale, offer new insights and accelerate humanitarian impact – but also risk deepening inequalities and undermining diversity if not ethically governed. Through dynamic discussions, expert insights and real-world examples, we’ll examine how to shift power back to those most affected by crises.

Don’t miss this chance to engage with experts from technology, humanitarian response, media and grassroots action as we chart a path towards more inclusive, equitable and community-driven humanitarian technologies.

Nyalleng is a senior researcher at the Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute. Her research interests are in understanding how we can build models which center populations often regarded as peripheral. Before DAIR she was a research software engineer at Google, where she was one of the first employees at the Google Africa research lab. She has also been a senior researcher at the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial research, where she worked closely with government and academic institutions to develop a diversity of products for private and public institutions. Outside of formal work she is involved in efforts to democratize AI; she is a founding member of the Deep Learning Indaba, the largest machine learning consortium of AI/ML practitioners in Africa, a member of A+ Alliance an international coalition that seeks to not only detect, but correct, gender bias in AI.

Speakers TBA!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

iHub, Jahazi Ground floor James Gichuru Road, Nairobi, Kenya