Call for lightning talks: Centring Data in African AI (A 2025 Deep Learning Indaba Workshop)

[Siobhan Hall]

Dear WiML community members

The Centring Data in African AI workshop (Deep Learning Indaba 2025) examines the challenges and opportunities surrounding data in African AI through both technical and socio-technical lenses. In particular, it highlights the importance of African data—data collected by or about Africans—as a means for local communities to assert greater agency and ownership within the AI value chain.

We’d like to invite you to submit a proposal for a Lightning Talk! This session aims to highlight a variety of ground-level viewpoints from individuals, researchers, practitioners, community organisers, and other contributors across the African continent.

We welcome a range of topics, including but not limited to:

• Human Labour & Fair Compensation in Data Work

• Community-Led Approaches to Data Collection

• Evaluating and Measuring Dataset Quality

• Data Pipelines & Annotation Processes

• Bridging the Gap Between Data and Product Design

• Ethical, Policy, and Funding Dimensions of Data

Learn more and apply here: https://centring-data-in-african-ai.github.io/workshop/lightningtalks/.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach us via email centring-data...@googlegroups.com.

Kind regards,

Siobhan Hall

On behalf of the Centring Data in African AI workshop organisers