Imagine if doctors treated patients without access to reliable, up-to-date information, relying on guesswork to diagnose illnesses and prescribe treatments. The outcome would be disastrous. Yet this is precisely what often happens in public governance, where decisions that affect millions are made without access to accurate information. Data isn’t just useful — it’s essential. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa, where governments face the monumental task of delivering services efficiently and equitably.
Governance, like health care, should be guided by accurate, timely information. The ability of governments to deliver public goods and services — such as electricity, policing, waste removal and schooling — is an exercise in resource allocation and logistical precision. Like a body, a community functions best when all its constituent parts get what they need to survive and thrive. Just as a doctor diagnoses a patient with the most relevant information at hand, service delivery needs to be based on real-time data. However, in many cases public services suffer from a lack of accurate data, outdated systems and slow planning processes, leading to delays and inefficiencies that could have otherwise been avoided.
Thankfully, advances in technology have meant the ability of authorities to make informed decisions is rapidly improving, and this is beginning to extend into public service delivery at all levels of governance. Governments can now harness big data to monitor real-time needs and allocate resources accordingly. The recent publication of South Africa’s national data and cloud policy is a good example of this shift, signalling the government’s intention to embrace up-to-date, data-informed decision-making across various sectors.
This move towards digitisation has the potential to transform how African governments deliver services, but it also raises crucial questions about who controls this critical data. Should foreign companies dominate the digital infrastructure of African nations, essentially holding a veto power over the continent’s data? This question speaks to the growing need for data sovereignty — the control of data by African governments, ensuring it remains in African hands. This will help quell worries about the abuse of crucial information by external players.
When African nations control their own data, they can unlock new opportunities for innovation, economic growth and more effective governance
However, beyond fears of overreach concerning our private data, data storage should be localised within our borders and placed in the hands of local governments. By collaborating with local experts, African governments can gain control of decentralised servers and cloud storage options to place African data (vital to operations relating to public health, service delivery and resource allocation) under the control of trusted parties with no vested interest in the data beyond the fee paid for the service.
For South African communities specifically, data concerning the distribution of water and emergency services has a tangible real-world impact beyond the monetary value paid to a local service provider. Data storage within the country’s borders can promote decentralisation (making the storage process less risky), and it can be done on a local scale. This is exactly what the national data and cloud policy hints at by expressly and impliedly emphasising that data centres must be energy- and water-secure.
Ultimately, the argument is that we cannot just be consumers of technology in Africa — we need to be the proud owners and users of our technology and innovation as well.
When African nations control their own data, they can unlock new opportunities for innovation, economic growth and more effective governance. Data is a vital asset in today’s world, as valuable as any natural resource. By keeping control over that data, African countries can ensure they benefit from the enormous wealth of information produced within their borders.
We have a vested interest in ensuring the safety and security of our data, as well as who it is entrusted to. Why? Because they are just as much the beneficiaries of the use of such data as they are vendors. A strategy that seeks to ensure our capacity to benefit from our own data capital locally is worth investigating without delay.
• Jordaan is the CEO of Suppple
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