Bingwa Civic Tech Lab pushes WSIS+20 to prioritize global digital justice

The WSIS+20 consultation meeting in Dar es Salaam brought renewed attention to digital inequalities that still shape access, participation, and opportunity across the Global South. During the discussions, Bingwa Civic Tech Lab presented a clear message. The next phase of global digital governance cannot overlook the structural disparities that continue to leave many communities without reliable connectivity, adequate infrastructure, or basic digital literacy. According to their intervention, these gaps widen as global policy debates concentrate on emerging technologies like AI, data governance, and cybersecurity, while many African regions remain disconnected in practice.

Bingwa Civic Tech Lab argued that the WSIS+20 review process offers one of the few opportunities to link existing frameworks with the evolving Global Digital Compact in a way that remains inclusive and practical. The aim is not to produce another layer of global declarations but to strengthen alignment across WSIS action lines, the SDGs, and newer policy processes. The organisation emphasised that the consultation stage is a moment to articulate a coherent path for the next decades. Stakeholders should assess what has worked, what remains fragmented, and where current frameworks fail to meet the needs of marginalised groups who are rarely represented in digital policy spaces.

A significant part of their intervention focused on digital justice. They described digital justice as the right of communities to retain meaningful control over their data and to benefit from the digital systems that increasingly shape their lives. They warned of scenarios in which creators and artists may see their work misclassified as AI-generated, illustrating the broader problem of accountability and ownership in the data value chain. In their view, AI must be designed and governed in a way that protects communities rather than displacing them. This includes a shift toward genuinely open AI models that resemble the principles of open-source software rather than limited or capped-profit structures.

Bingwa Civic Tech Lab also highlighted the role AI can play in civic technology, particularly in improving education, strengthening knowledge access, and developing tools that support community well-being. For such benefits to be realised, however, the WSIS+20 conclusions must embed principles of responsibility, ethics, and human-centric design. Their call reflects the expectations of a younger generation of civic technologists and digital rights advocates who want global frameworks that acknowledge technological change without abandoning equity considerations.