DataFest Africa

DataFest Africa is an event that seeks to celebrate data use in the East African region by bringing together various stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, such as government, civil society, donors, academics, students and private industry experts, under one roof and theme.

With each edition, DataFest Africa has continued to evolve and push the boundaries of what is possible in the field of data science. Pollicy, with support from partners has been organising the annual festival which has so far transformed from a Kampala edition (DataFest Kampala) to an African regional edition (DataFest Africa).

DataFest Africa has been held four times: In 2019, 2021,2022 and 2023. The first data festival was held in Kampala, Uganda on 6th and 7th March 2019, under the theme of; “the use of data in decision-making for both the public and private sectors.” The 2021 event was held on 29th and 30th April under the theme “Living with Data.” In 2022, the festival was held from 10th June to 7th July under the theme; “Big Data, Little Data and Everything Between” and in 2023 the main event was held on 12th July and 13th July under the theme; “Turning the Data Tables: No gender equality without data equality”. The theme this year is built around the idea of harnessing Data & Technology for Africa’s Transformation.