Alison Gillwald

Alison Gillwald, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cape Town’s Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, where she runs a research, technical assistance and doctoral program in digital policy and data governance, currently focusing on AI and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). She was the founding director of Research ICT Africa (RIA), which last year served as knowledge partner to South Africa’s G20 Presidency, for the Digital Economy Work Group and the High-Level Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance, and Innovation for Sustainable Development. She also co-chaired the T20 Task Force on Digital Transformation. She serves on the International Telecommunications Union Academic Advisory Body on Emerging Technologies. She has been commissioned by various multilateral organisations, including UNESCO, the ITU and the World Bank, and has worked closely for many years with the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank. She has been active in the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), most recently co-leading the Algorithmic Transparency in the Public Sector project and previously the data justice project.