How the Global South is Reclaiming space in the digital Landscape

Who defines digital standards? Who shapes the technologies that spread across the world and whose interests are embedded in the systems we use every day?

This session builds on these questions by turning to concrete practice. Today, a single set of digital standards dominates the world, shaped in the Global North, owned by western companies, and driven by their interests. For users in the Global South, this often means functioning as second-tier participants in systems not built for their local realities. But this is beginning to shift as countries like Rwanda are reclaiming agency in the global tech industry, not just as users, but as creators and decision-makers.

As technical expertise grows across the Global South, African countries are no longer adapting to existing infrastructures, they’re building their own. By creating local solutions, developers reclaim power over the digital architectures they rely on, redefine access, and challenge the status quo by shifting global power dynamics.

Building technology locally means having the power to define its function, purpose, and accessibility, including whether it’s open, affordable, and fair. This goes beyond simply bridging gaps. It means setting new standards that genuinely reflect the realities of users in the Global South. It is not just about participation; it is about reclaiming space in the global digital landscape and shaping a future based on equal footing.

We spotlight Code Purpose, a team of Rwandan tech talents partnering with NGOs from both South and North to tackle social and development challenges, and we spotlight Ojemba, a German-Rwandan company that builds cross-continental software developer teams by hiring Rwandan developers who work remotely on international projects alongside their German team members as equal contributors. Together, they offer insights into what happens when cooperation is based on mutual respect and shared responsibility and when access to the global tech economy becomes a path toward digital self-determination.

But this is not just about participation or collaboration, it is about creating new standards in the global tech ecosystem that center users in the Global South. Through examples like Irembo, Hexakomb, Comza, and Nyaruka, this event shows how building local digital solutions transforms power structures, redistributes value, and establishes new standards while placing the Global South at the center of innovation, where solutions originate from local realities and needs.

This event is available for participation both in person and online. You can join online via the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85136793726

Für die Inhalte der Publikation(en) ist allein die bezuschusste Institution verantwortlich. Die hier dargestellten Positionen geben nicht den Standpunkt der Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe wieder.

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