Prof Alison Gillwald

Alison Gillwald (PhD) is the founding director of Research ICT Africa (RIA), a 30-year-old African digital and data policy and regulatory think tank with the mission of accelerating digital inequality and data justice.  She is also an Adjunct Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, where she convenes a doctoral programme on the digital economy and society. Her applied research and practice continue to focus on digital equality and data justice, as well as on internet, data and AI governance at the national, continental and international levels.

During South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 this year, she has served as an advisor to the Government on the High-Level Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance, Innovation for Sustainable Development and the G20 Digital Economy Work Group, leading RIA’s role as the only African knowledge partner across all priority areas. She also co-chairs the T20 Task Force on Digital Transformation. 

Alison led the RIA team commissioned by UNESCO to prepare a position paper on information integrity for the Brazilian G20 and served on the Brazilian T20. Furthermore, she led RIA’s technical assistance to the African Union Commission on the AU Data Policy Framework and implementation plan. She has been active in the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), most recently co-leading the Algorithmic Transparency in the Public Sector project. She also co-led the Data Justice work of the Data Governance Working Group.

She serves on the International Telecommunications Union Academic Advisory Body. Over three decades, she has been commissioned and partnered with UNCTAD, UNDP, UNDESA, UNECA, UN Women, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank. Alison was a deputy chairperson of Giganet, the only dedicated Internet Governance academic policy research conference.