Tech giant, Meta recently awarded the University of Pretoria (UP) a grant in the sum of $50 000 (almost R1 million) in the form of an unrestricted gift to support UP’s work related to the Data Science Law Lab (founded and headed by Dr Chijioke Okorie) and Data Science for Social Impact Research Group (founded and led by Prof Vukosi Marivate) to inform artificial intelligence development and governance in South Africa.

Artificial intelligence (AI) funding is critical for driving innovation and technological growth. AI research and development necessitates substantial financial resources in order to investigate new algorithms, refine existing models, and develop novel applications. Researchers and engineers can push the boundaries of AI capabilities with proper financing, leading to breakthroughs that potentially change numerous industries. These developments help to drive economic growth, job creation, and the development of cutting-edge technology that improve our daily lives. "Effective Artificial Intelligence development across Africa demands a broad based understanding of data governance and active community involvement. This collaborative approach empowers researchers to develop impactful solutions for our most pressing challenges, such as healthcare, food security, cultural-language preservation and education, " says Prof Vukosi Marivate.

“For me, the hallmark of lawyering be it from a research, policy or practice perspective is transdisciplinarity. It is beyond exciting to receive a grant that supports the work we are doing at the Data Science Law Lab! Collaborating with Prof Marivate's Data Science for Social Impact allows us to leverage each other's expertise and experiences in a way that truly transforms our research impact and outcomes,” says Dr Okorie, the Principal Investigator who is a lecturer in UP’s Department of Private Law at the Faculty of Law and Prof Marivate, the co-principal investigator is the Absa Chair of Data Science in UP’s Department of Computer Science. 

Recently, there has been a greater emphasis on amplifying the voices and representation of Africans and African contexts in defining the development, governance, and use of AI systems. One critical issue in this area is data, namely balancing the tension between data privacy and data access, usage, reuse, and management. However, in the corporate sector, these initiatives are usually undertaken with the assumption that Africa is a monolith and that once established, the consequences of such efforts can be duplicated across Africa. Working together, Dr Okorie and Prof Marivate intend to organise policy hackathons, commission research papers and facilitate dialogues between academia, industry and government. The overarching aims are, inter alia, develop policy recommendations and solutions that support data access and data processing required in AI research, development and application based on an understanding of the unique and specific contexts (social, cultural, economic, etc.) of South Africa and to develop actionable and context-specific recommendations for private sector contributions in the development and governance of AI in South Africa.