Digital Rights conference hosts delegates from 32 countries in Lagos

Delegates from 32 countries Wednesday began the seventh edition Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) organised by Paradigm Initiative in Lagos.

The conference which takes place from April 23 to April 25, 2019, at Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, will deliberate on issues confronting the digital space in Africa.

The delegates comprises of stakeholders in civil society, academia, media, technical community, government- including security agencies, judiciary, and legislature, and the private sector, from 32 countries in Africa, and 6 countries outside the continent.

“DRIF has become well known for its track record of tangible actionable outcomes, and has gained a reputation as an important platform where conversations on digital policy in Africa are shaped, and policy directions forged,” Tope Ogundipe, Paradigm Initiative’s director of programs, said.

“The broad categories of participants expected are state actors, civil society organizations, academia, human rights activists, technology entrepreneurs, gender activists, as well as policy enthusiasts and actors within the global internet governance space.”

DRIF features engaging conversations which draw on globally relevant issues, as well as Africa-specific challenges and opportunities.

Panellists and participants are drawn based on a multi-stakeholder model, allowing stakeholders who have hitherto operated in silos to talk to one other about common challenges.

“For the first time, the Forum this year will focus considerably on digital inclusion conversations as the basis for digital rights, on a continent where internet penetration is lowest and the opportunities which ICTs provide remain elusive to many,” Ogundipe said.

This year’s edition will also feature more side sessions, allow for bilingual communication and participation as it has done since 2017, and encourage post-event collaborations to further strengthen the discourse of Internet Freedom in Africa,” Ogundipe added.

Speakers expected at the conference include, Albert Antwi Boasiako, National Cybersecurity Advisor, Government of Ghana, Segun Mausi, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch Africa Division, Hawa Ba, Head of the Senegal Country Office, Open Society for West Africa, and Lanre Osibona, Special Advisor on ICT to the President of Nigeria.

Others are Dr Ernest Ndukwe, former chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Robert Muthuri of Strathmore University, and Onica Makwakwa, A4AI Africa Regional Coordinator

The forum refocuses attention on issues confronting the digital space on a continent where human rights online are routinely violated.