At a time when data is increasingly the backbone of artificial intelligence, innovation and digital transformation, more than 40 senior regulators and policymakers from Angola, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Mozambique came together to strengthen national and regional approaches to data governance. The high-level, hands-on workshop, held in Maputo from 8 to 10 December 2025, also marked the official launch of the Portuguese edition of the Data Governance Toolkit: Navigating Data in the Digital Age, expanding its reach beyond the existing English and French editions.
The development of the Data Governance Toolkit was co-led by UNESCO, ITU, UNDP and the Africa Union through the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. The workshop focused on translating policy ambition into concrete implementation through practical tools and peer learning.
Organised by UNESCO in close collaboration with Mozambique’s National Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (Instituto Nacional de Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação, INTIC) and Smart Africa, the event brought together key regional and international partners, including UNDP, the World Bank, and the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (CETIC.br), UNESCO’s Category 2 Centre for Information and Communication Technologies in Brazil.
Designed as a learning-by-doing experience, the three-day workshop combined global expertise with regional and national perspectives, ensuring alignment with the African Union Data Policy Framework, the Smart Africa Data Governance Blueprint, and emerging national strategies.
During the workshop, participants worked collaboratively around the four pillars of the Data Governance Toolkit: Why (Purpose), How (Principles), Who (Roles and Responsibilities), and What (Practices and Data Lifecycle). Through group-based exercises, they mapped national data ecosystems, identified governance gaps, and defined concrete priorities for action. The structured methodology supported peer exchange across Lusophone Africa.
The programme featured contributions from leading institutions in digital transformation, sharing practical lessons on data governance implementation. UNU-WIDER and Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD) highlighted experiences from data labs, national strategies, and the use of regulatory data and AI sandboxes, while the World Bank, INTIC and UNDP shared insights on diagnostics, interoperability frameworks, and trusted data exchanges to strengthen institutional readiness and data sharing. A dedicated segment on AI governance, led by Professors Virginia Dignum and Frank Dignum of Umeå University, highlighted how data quality, provenance and governance directly shape AI outcomes. The session emphasized the importance of robust data governance as a foundation for trustworthy, human-centred AI.
READ MORE: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/lusophone-countries-africa-deepen-digital-cooperation-strengthen-data-governance
