Data ownership will determine who controls AI – Didam

A technology entrepreneur and management consultant, Norman Bwuruk Didam, has called for stronger data ownership and governance frameworks as artificial intelligence continues to expand across businesses and governments.

Didam made the call in a recent commentary on the growing influence of artificial intelligence, arguing that the debate around AI should focus not only on the technology and algorithms but also on the data used to develop and operate the systems.

He said data has become a critical component of AI development, as systems rely on large volumes of information to learn, make predictions and generate content.

According to him, the increasing collection and use of data have raised important questions around ownership, privacy, copyright and control.

Didam also highlighted concerns over data sovereignty in Africa, warning that countries on the continent could become major sources of data for foreign technology companies while depending on externally developed AI systems.

He argued that greater control over locally generated data would allow African countries and businesses to determine how their information is stored, processed and used.

He further noted that the diversity of data used to train AI systems was important, particularly because systems trained predominantly on data from Western countries could fail to adequately reflect African languages, cultures and social realities.

On the business side, Didam urged companies adopting AI tools to pay closer attention to how their proprietary information is handled by third-party providers.

He said businesses should consider issues such as data ownership, storage, retention and whether information supplied to AI platforms could be used to train external models.

Didam also called for stronger regulations covering the collection and use of data for AI development.

He said policymakers should establish clearer rules on data rights, while countries should invest in digital infrastructure and improve digital literacy to strengthen their ability to participate meaningfully in the AI economy.

He also advocated greater transparency from organisations developing and deploying AI systems, particularly regarding the sources of data used to train such systems.

Didam said the future impact of artificial intelligence would depend not only on advances in technology but also on who controls the information that powers it.