The African Union – European Union (AU-EU) Digital for Development (D4D) Hub fosters cooperation between African and European partners with the goal of jointly working towards a shared vision for digital transformation. The project works to ensure a digital transition that is: human-centric, sustainable and green, and supports data privacy, security, and protection. These values underpin the shared ambitions of the Africa-Europe digital partnership.
Because such values and principles can mean different things to different people, and especially given the multi-country and multi-country context of the AU-EU D4D Hub, achieving our collective goal requires establishing a common understanding of our values and principles. These definitions, developed through consultations and surveys with the project partners, are meant to serve as a guide for understanding the principles underpinning the AU-EU D4D Hub’s work in supporting African countries' digital transformation.
Value 1: Human-centric approach
There is a growing demand for a deeper understanding of the disruptive impacts technological development has on society. Placing humans and society at the heart of the digital transformation has been increasingly echoed by civil society and policymakers are starting to catch up, most recently with the 2022 European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade, which “puts people at the centre” of digital transformation.
For the AU-EU D4D Hub, keeping humans at the centre of digital innovation means including all stakeholders throughout the process. Consultations with the AU-EU D4D Hub’s implementing organisations highlighted the importance of inclusivity, when designing policy, regulation, and public digital services, as well as during the design processes related to innovation and entrepreneurship activities. The term “human-centric” was understood equally by partners in two ways; in terms of ensuring the rights and freedoms of humans, but also in terms of involving users closely in the process of designing new technical solutions. AU-EU D4D Hub implementing partners were undivided in their opinion that no bases of vulnerability or discrimination should be excluded, while suggesting a specific focus on women, people with disabilities, rural populations, ethnic minorities, refugees, and migrants.
Additionally, below are other activities that AU-EU D4D Hub implementing partners consider to be key for the human-centric approach:
- Protecting digital rights and freedoms.
- Monitoring the level of digital repression.
- Using “design thinking” methodologies and putting the users and citizens at the centre of the design and development of technical solutions.
- Offering skill development to meet the current and future demands of the labour market.
- Providing social protection to mitigate the negative welfare effects of the digital transformation.
- Offering reskilling and upskilling initiatives to mitigate disruption from automation.
- Understanding the uneven spread of the welfare effects (both positive and negative) of digitalisation.
Value 2: Green and sustainable
There is a great deal of attention being given to the “twin transition” of digital and green transformations occurring around the globe. In March 2022, the AU-EU D4D Hub held its first Multi-Stakeholder Forum, which highlighted the importance of focusing on a sustainable digital transformation to ensure a more resilient economy. Furthermore, the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade, which is a source of inspiration for the development of the D4D Hub, includes sustainability among its six action areas, specifically in supporting the development and utilisation of “sustainable digital technologies that have a minimal environmental impact”.
Again, AU-EU D4D Hub implementing partners looked at this dimension in two ways: using technology to support the climate change agenda, but also ensuring that digital transformation interventions are as climate-friendly as possible. To achieve these two goals, the AU-EU D4D Hub implementing partners believe that the following actions must be considered:
- Adopting sustainable practices for digital development, such as using open-source tools and reuse solutions.
- Designing infrastructure for climate action.
- Favouring interoperability by using existing solutions and avoiding silos.
- Ensuring digital and data-driven innovation support sustainability goals or green agenda objectives.
- Using green technologies with a lower environmental footprint and high efficiency
- Considering e-waste.
- Advocating for sustainable mining and refining practices for minerals and raw materials produced for the technology sector.
- Designing a digital disaster response based on digitally enabled public and private functions to increase resilience amidst crises.
Value 3: Data privacy, security, and protection
This third and final core value of the AU-EU D4D Hub supports a vision for technological development where the data subjects and rights holders are fully protected. For the AU-EU D4D Hub, we strive to focus on the two ends of the spectrum: the right-bearers on the one hand and the controllers, collectors, and processors on the other.
Safety, security, and empowerment is one of the six actions outlined in the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade and is also reflected in the AU-EU D4D Hub’s vision for the digital transformation. This includes working towards ensuring a protected, safe, and secure online environment, privacy and individual control over data, and protecting and empowering young people online. To achieve this, it is recommended to focus on keeping policy and legal frameworks up to international standards and at the frontier of technological development. It is also important to build public awareness of these frameworks and regulations. Finally, to ensure a private, safe, and secure digital environment for all, the AU-EU D4D Hub recommends connecting with ongoing definitional work being done on this topic to ensure that efforts are being harmonised across all stakeholders, and across borders.
Just as the digital landscape is constantly evolving, so too is our understanding of these concepts. Keeping up with the latest advancements in digitalisation will require revisiting and revising the definitions of these concepts on a regular basis. While we hope that there will soon be a body of research to discuss these topics in further detail, the AU-EU D4D Hub’s definitions shared in this article can provide good guidance of what these different terms mean operationally. As the digital transformation progresses, it will be important to follow up on these concepts, as what it means to have an approach to digitalisation that is human-centric, green and sustainable, and promotes security, safety, and privacy, are all bound to change as well.
About the AU-EU D4D Hub
The African Union – European Union (AU-EU) Digital for Development (D4D) Hub supports African institutions to create an enabling environment for an inclusive and sustainable digital transformation. The project provides demand-driven technical assistance, promotes knowledge sharing, and facilitates multi-stakeholder dialogues.
The AU-EU D4D Hub is a Team Europe project, co-funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by eight European organisations. It is part of the D4D Hub, an EU-led platform that creates and leverages partnerships to shape a sustainable digital future worldwide.
Learn more about the project: au-eu.d4dhub.eu
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