DataScientia Symposium 2026 will be held at Durban University of Technology in Durban, bringing together partner universities from across Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America, along with new collaborators from Africa.
DataScientia aims to become a citizen science community of practice devoted to person-centric general AI (PCAGI). Rather than treating individuals as passive data sources, we focus on empowering people with tools and technologies to understand, manage, and use their data—supporting the development of AI systems that are transparent, inclusive, and beneficial to society.
Event Overview
The DataScientia Symposium 2026, to be hosted in South Africa at Durban University of Technology (DUT), will take place from 22 to 24 July 2026, followed by a dedicated day of social and networking activities on 25 July. The event marks a significant step in advancing a global dialogue on Diversity-aware Sovereign AI; an approach to artificial intelligence that respects cultural diversity, local knowledge, and data autonomy across regions and communities.
Bringing together leading researchers, policymakers, industry experts, and international organizations, the meeting is designed as a multi-day collaborative platform combining scientific exchange, policy dialogue, and strategic co-creation. Participants will engage in a dynamic program of talks, workshops, and discussions aimed at shaping the future of inclusive and culturally aware AI systems.
The event will open with an Opening Ceremony at DUT, setting the stage for three thematic days:
Day 1 (22 July) – Diversity-aware AI
This day focuses on the state of the art in Diversity-aware Sovereign AI at a global level, exploring advances across domains such as health, language, culture, and society. Talks will present cutting-edge research and interdisciplinary approaches to building AI systems that serve diverse populations. The day will conclude with a panel discussion, bringing together key voices to reflect on challenges, opportunities, and future directions.
Day 2 (23 July) – Diversity-aware Sovereign AI for Africa (Policy & Regional Perspectives)
Building on the scientific foundations of Day 1, this workshop shifts toward policy, governance, and regional implementation, with a particular focus on South Africa and the broader African landscape. Speakers will include representatives from governments, academia, and international bodies such as the European Commission, offering insights into current initiatives and strategic priorities. The session will conclude with a multi-stakeholder panel discussion addressing pathways toward African leadership in Diversity-aware Sovereign AI.
Technology‑driven “Chinese + Vocational Education” in Africa: A New Pathway to Success explores how technology—including learning platforms and basic AI tools—can enable effective integration of Chinese language training with vocational skills for African youth. Early pilot examples show improved job readiness and cross‑cultural collaboration.
Day 3 (24 July) – The DataScientia Initiative (Collaboration & Action)
The final day is dedicated to the DataScientia Initiative, focusing on its core pillars: information, education, research, innovation and community building. Through interactive workshops, participants will actively contribute to shaping ongoing and future activities, fostering partnerships, and defining concrete actions for collaboration at both regional and global levels.
24 July 2026 – Social Dinner
A social gathering for all participants (venue to be confirmed), fostering informal exchange and strengthening partnerships.
25 July 2026 – Cultural Experience Tours
A dedicated cultural and networking experience, offering participants the opportunity to explore the natural environment of South Africa together. Please refer to the travel & tours section for more information about available options and activities.
Focus of the 2026 Edition
A Manifesto for Diversity-aware Sovereign AI for Africa
A central outcome of the event will be the co-creation of a Manifesto on Diversity-aware Sovereign AI, developed through structured contributions from leading researchers, senior policymakers, institutional representatives, and international partners. The manifesto is conceived not as a declarative statement, but as an evidence-informed and action-oriented framework, grounded in the discussions and outputs of the meeting.
Its development will draw on the three core pillars of the program: the scientific evidence presented during Day 1, capturing the state of the art and key research challenges; the policy and governance perspectives of Day 2, reflecting regulatory approaches, public sector priorities, and international cooperation efforts, including contributions from institutions such as the European Commission and African governmental bodies; and the implementation-oriented work of Day 3, translating these insights into operational priorities across capacity building, data governance, education, and innovation.
To ensure continuity and impact beyond the event, the manifesto will be accompanied by concrete follow-up mechanisms, including the establishment of thematic working groups, the identification of pilot initiatives and joint projects, and its integration into the ongoing activities of the DataScientia Initiative across research, education, and innovation. In this sense, the meeting is designed not only as a forum for exchange, but as a mechanism for coordination and alignment, inviting participants to actively contribute to shaping both the conceptual foundations and the practical trajectory of Sovereign AI in Africa and globally.
Programme Details
Please note that linked below is the tentative version of the programme.
Venue & Logistics
Event Venue
The event will take place at Riverside Hotel Conference Centre, Durban, South Africa
Address: 10 Kenneth Kaunda Road, Durban North, Durban, 4051
Dates
22-25 July 2026
Participation Cost
Participation to the event is free of charge.
✦ How to Join Online?
Online Meeting Link: Meeting link will be published on this page right before the event and will also be shared through email with event participant.
✦ Registration
Pre-registrations for the symposium are Open Now!
To register, please fill out the online registration form here, or scan the QR Code below:
✦ Event Venue:
-
- Event Venue: Riverside Hotel Conference Centre, Durban, South Africa
- Address: 10 Kenneth Kaunda Road, Durban North, Durban, 4051
- Website: www.riversidehotel.co.za
✦ Accommodation Options:
-
- Preferred Accommodation: Riverside Hotel
- Preferred Type: Bed & Breakfast
- Check-in: 21 July 2026
- Check-out: 26 July 2026
- Est. Accommodation Cost: Single Delegate – R 10 000 for 5-night stay, inclusive of daily breakfast. For more details of the place, visit www.riversidehotel.co.za
- Reference CODE – DUT July (preferential rates on first come first serve)
- Delegates can email Shalini – rmdiv@riversidehotel.co.za or contact her on +27315630600, to facilitate the booking.
✦ Pre-book Airport Shuttle Service
Delegates may book their ground travel using the services of Ez Shuttle which can be accessed via. the following weblink to make their bookings:
Alternatively, download the Ez Shuttle mobile app to book shuttle transfers.
✦ Additional Information:
Organizing Committee
Organizing Committee
Fausto Giunchiglia
DataScientia Coordinator
Programme / International Engagement Co-Chair
University of Trento, Italy
Prof. Sunday Ojo
Programme / International Engagement Co-Chair
Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa
ALI HAMZA
DataScientia Event Coordinator
Programme Co-Chair
University of Trento, Italy
Prof. Oludayo Olugbara
Organizing Committee Chair
Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa
Dr. Oyeniyi Alimi
Academic Event Co-ordinator
Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa
Dr. Robyn Thompson
Cultural Experiences Co-ordinator
Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa
Ugeshni Moodley
Facilities and Technical Co-ordinator
Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa
Lindelweyizizwe Manqele
DataScientia Web content Generation & Dissemination
Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa
Dr. Mayukh Bagchi
DataScientia Web content Generation & Dissemination
University of Trento, Italy
Sisekelo Mtshali
Finance Co-ordinator
Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa
Freedom Khubisa
DUT DataScientia Living Lab Co-ordinator
Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa
Lin Wu (Frank)
DUT CI - International Liaison
Durban University of Technology (DUT), South Africa
Mr Keith Kenneth
AV Co-ordinator
Ms Nonzuzo Ngcobo
Admin Assistant
Mr Siyanda Magubane
Organizing Committee Visual Storyteller
Speakers & Talks
Speakers and Talks
A day-wise view of invited talks, workshop sessions, tutorials, dialogue forums, and DataScientia Initiative contributions on Diversity-aware Sovereign AI.
Day 1 · Diversity-aware AI
Survey talks and interdisciplinary perspectives on diversity-aware AI across health, science, language, design, community-centred AI, South African languages, and ancient culture.
Opening Ceremony
Venue: Riverside Hotel · Opening Session Chair: Prof. Sunday Ojo
Registration for the Event
Event Registration
DataScientia Symposium 2026
Opening & Welcome Address
Prof. Oludayo Olugbara
Executive Dean, Faculty of Accounting & Informatics, Durban University of Technology
The South Africa-Italy Strategy in AI Research and Innovation
Mr. Marco Esposito
Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Italy in Pretoria
Introduction to the Workshop Theme
Prof. Fausto Giunchiglia
University of Trento
Launch of the DUT DataScientia Living Lab
Prof. Sunday Ojo, Prof. Oludayo Olugbara & Prof. Fausto Giunchiglia
Durban University of Technology / University of Trento
Zulu Cultural Dancers Performance
Cultural Performance
Opening Ceremony Programme
Morning Session · AI for X
Session Chair: Prof. Sunday Ojo
Capturing Patient Diversity across Molecular and Clinical Phenotypes with Foundation Models
Valentina Giunchiglia
Imperial College London / Harvard University
Accelerating Scientific Discovery with Agentic AI
Owen Queen
Department of Computer Science, Stanford University
A Large Lexical Database on Language Diversity
Prof. Gábor Bella
IMT Atlantique
Diversity-aware AI
Davide Cavicchini
University of Trento
Afternoon Session · Diversity-aware AI
Session Chairs: Valentina Giunchiglia and Davide Cavicchini
Language Diversity, Dialectical Pluralism and Grassroot Digital Technologies
Prof. Aimé Sègla
University of Abomey-Calavi
Language Diversity – A Linguistic Point of View
Prof. Paul Oye Taiwo
University of Ibadan
AI Design and Knowledge Diversity – Potentials, Conundrums and Research Questions
Dr. Gertraud Koch
University of Hamburg
Co-Designing for Pluriversal AI
Rachel Charlotte Smith
Aarhus University
Community-Centred Priorities for Artificial Intelligence in Africa
Rachel Oluwatuyi & Jasmine Johnson-Mazwi
University of Cape Town
Diversity-aware Word Sense Disambiguation Model for South African Languages – A Case Study of Sesotho sa Leboa
Dr. Daniel Masethe
Tshwane University of Technology
Diversity-aware Data Collection for South African Languages Word Sense Disambiguation-enhanced Machine Translation
Dr. Tebatso Moape
University of South Africa
AI for Ancient Culture (Video Presentation)
Hao Xu
Jilin University
Day 2 · Diversity-aware Sovereign AI for Africa
Policy, regional perspectives, dialogue sessions, and a hands-on tutorial on lexical semantics for diversity-aware sovereign AI.
Morning Workshop · DASAI for Africa
Morning Session Chair: Prof. Nalen Naicker
Welcome
Prof. Sunday Ojo
Durban University of Technology
Diversity-aware Sovereign AI for Africa in Perspective
Prof. Sunday Ojo
Durban University of Technology
African Diversity-aware Sovereign AI: Higher Education Perspective
Prof. Oludayo Olugbara
Durban University of Technology
African Diversity-aware Sovereign AI: Socio-Ethno-Linguistics of African Languages Diversity
Prof. Moufoutaou Adjéran
University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin Republic
Who Owns AI? – An African Thought
Prof. Pius Owolawi
Tshwane University of Technology
From Data to Value: Rethinking Sovereign AI in Africa
Dr. Wayne Moodaley
University of Cape Town
“Chinese + AI” Training in Africa: From Language Bridge to Citizen-Generated Data for Person-Centric AI
Lin Wu
Confucius Institute, Durban University of Technology
Parallel Session 1 · Tutorial Lectures
Tutorial: Lexical Semantics for Diversity-aware Sovereign AI · Facilitator: Dr. Hadi Khalilia
Registration and Student Project Poster Presentations
Lindelweyizizwe Manqele & Freedom Khubisa
Durban University of Technology
Welcome
Dr. Sibusiso Dlamini
Durban University of Technology
DataScientia Tutorial Rationale
Dr. Tebatso Moape
University of South Africa
Lecture 1: Lexical Resources and Their Role in Multilingual AI
Dr. Hadi Khalilia
Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie
Lecture 2: Language Diversity and Its Impact on Technology
Dr. Hadi Khalilia
Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie
Lecture 3: Building Diversity-Aware Lexical Resources: Methods, Experiments, and Collaborative Data Collection
Dr. Hadi Khalilia
Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie
Afternoon Session · Practicals
Hands-on tutorial activities with lecturers, coordinators, and trainees
Hands-on Introduction to UKC Resource Collection using South African Languages
Coordinators / Trainees
All participating tutorial groups
Collaborative UKC Population Exercise and Inter-Evaluator Validation
Coordinators / Trainees
All participating tutorial groups
Review and Way Forward
Lecturer / Coordinators / Trainees
All participating tutorial groups
Parallel Session 2 · DASAI Dialogue Forum
Session Chair: Dr. Oyeniyi Akeem Alimi
Science Diplomacy and International Cooperation in AI Research and Innovation
Mr. Luca Tiano
Scientific Attaché, Italian Embassy
Introduction to the Dialogue Forum Session
Prof. Sunday Ojo
Durban University of Technology
Break Away Dialogue Sessions on Diversity-aware Sovereign AI for Africa
Group Facilitators, Rapporteurs and Co-Facilitators
Participating institutions across Africa, Europe, Asia and international partner networks
Group Reportings
Group Facilitators / Rapporteurs / Co-Facilitators
All DASAI Dialogue Forum discussion groups
Rounding Up
Prof. Sunday Ojo
Durban University of Technology
Day 3 · The DataScientia Initiative
Collaboration and action-oriented sessions on Knowledge Commons, Education, Research, Innovation, funding, dissemination, and partnership development.
DataScientia Initiative Workshop
Opening Remarks
Mr. Luca Tiano
Scientific Attaché, Italian Embassy
Welcome
Prof. Fausto Giunchiglia
University of Trento
DataScientia: Towards Diversity-aware Sovereign AI
Prof. Fausto Giunchiglia
University of Trento
The DataScientia Joint Labs Collaboration Model and Experiences
Li Zi
Zhuhai College of Science and Technology
Presentations by Partner & Prospective Partner Institutions
Partner Representatives
All participating institutions
Presentations by Partner & Prospective Partner Institutions
- Prof. Fausto Giunchiglia — University of Trento
- Prof. Sunday Ojo — Durban University of Technology
- Prof. Yanchun Liang — Zhuhai College of Science and Technology
- Prof. Amarsanaa Ganbold — National University of Mongolia
- Prof. Zhanat Nurbekova — Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University
- Prof. Jahna Otterbacher — Open University of Cyprus
- Prof. Rui Zhang — Jilin University
- Dr. Michael Kizito — Makerere University
- Dr. Hadi Khalilia — Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie
- Ms. Margherita Trestini — APODISSI
- Dr. Hlaudi Masethe — Tshwane University of Technology
- Prof. Gábor Bella — IMT Atlantique
- Dr. Alethia Hume — Universidad Católica “Nuestra Señora de la Asunción”
- Dr. Tebatso Moape — University of South Africa
- Dr. Wayne Moodaley — University of Cape Town
- Dr. Dimane Mpoeleng — Botswana International University of Science and Technology
- Prof. Tabin Hassan — American International University–Bangladesh
- Prof. Mammo Muchie — Gondar University, Ethiopia
- Wanyi Zhang — Chongqing University, China
Knowledge Commons, Education, Research and Innovation
From Local Knowledge to Global Knowledge Commons: Shared Content Repository and Publishing Strategy
Freedom Khubisa, Lindelweyizizwe Manqele & Mayukh
Durban University of Technology / University of Trento
Building Inclusive AI Education across Cultures and Languages
Matteo Busso, Rui Zhang, Stella & Zhanat Nurbekova
University of Trento / Jilin University / Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University
Language and Personal Data
Michael Kizito, Hadi Khalilia & Leonardo Malcotti
Makerere University / Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie / University of Trento
Data Exploitation for Impact: Data Challenges and Beyond
Andrea Bontempelli
University of Trento
Data Exploitation for Impact: The SmartCampus App
Li Dalin
Zhuhai College of Science and Technology
Funding, Community and Closing
Building Sustainable Partnerships and Funding: Funding Task Force, Priority Funding Calls, Joint Proposals and Expansion Roadmap
Margherita Trestini
APODISSI
The DataScientia Community and Intermediary
Ali Hamza
University of Trento
Disseminating DataScientia for Impact: How to Join?
Margherita Trestini
APODISSI
Closing Remarks: DataScientia towards Diversity-aware Sovereign AI
Prof. Fausto Giunchiglia
University of Trento
About the host Institution
About the host institution
The Faculty of Accounting and Informatics at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) is a forward-looking academic faculty dedicated to excellence in accounting, information technology, and business informatics education.
The faculty offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs that integrate theoretical knowledge with practical, real-world application. Key disciplines include accounting, auditing, taxation, information systems, and computer science, with a strong emphasis on digital transformation and data-driven innovation.
Through close collaboration with industry partners and a commitment to applied research, the faculty contributes to addressing regional and global challenges—particularly in areas such as data analytics, information management, and emerging technologies.
As part of DUT’s mission, the faculty promotes innovation, entrepreneurship, and community engagement, making it an ideal host for international initiatives such as the DataScientia Event 2026, which aligns with its focus on advancing data science, artificial intelligence, and global collaboration.
About Confucius Institute at DUT (part of the Local Organizing Team)
On March 26, 2013, the Confucius Institute (CI) at Durban University of Technology (DUT) was jointly established by DUT and its Chinese Partner University, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU). The CI at DUT is a pioneering “one-stop” service center, providing language teaching, cultural experiences, as well as technical, innovative, and entrepreneurial support. On September 6, 2024, FAFU and DUT jointly established the China-Africa Regional Development Center for “Chinese+ TVET”, based at the Confucius Institute in Durban. This initiative was announced as a key outcome of the 2024 China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing. The center is focusing on fields such as smart agriculture, artificial intelligence, green energy, and automation etc. It plans to establish several vocational practical training bases in Durban, South Africa. These bases will help translate classroom knowledge into practical skills through regular local training programs, cultivating technically skilled talent that meets industry demands, addressing local employment challenges, and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship among South African youth.
Discover Durban – Why Attend in Person?
“I believe that South Africa is the most beautiful place on earth…” — Nelson Mandela
South Africa’s beauty is unmatched, from magnificent mountains to amazing coastlines, vibrant communities, and a rich tapestry of cultures. Durban offer stunning sandy beaches perfect for year-round swimming and surfing, lush parks like the renowned Durban Botanic Gardens, and a welcoming atmosphere.
For an immersive local experience, Kimburi Tours offers half-day city tours, full-day adventures, and multi-day trips exploring the KwaZulu-Natal region’s wildlife and culture.
Event Sponsors
Disclaimer
- We strongly advise participants to personally check entry and visa requirements before making travel arrangements, as there might be country-specific conditions you are not aware of. Please contact the South African embassy/consulate in your home country for the most accurate information.
- DataScientia will NOT issue any Letter of Sponsorship or Letter of Guarantee if required by immigration authorities.
- DataScientia will not refund participants for cancellations due to visa rejections or inability to enter South Africa.
- DataScientia cannot influence the decision of the South African embassy/consulate or appeal on behalf of applicants.
- No liability is accepted for any loss, damage, or inconvenience arising from reliance on the information provided.