AI strategy becomes operational only when institutions can access, share and govern data with enough confidence to build real services. That makes data policy less a legal side-note and more a foundational layer of digital infrastructure.
The 12–14 August Southern Africa workshop in Harare is useful because it puts cross-border data flows, AI readiness and digital public goods into the same room. Regional alignment matters when financial services, trade, health, identity and digital platforms cross national borders.
The Apex question is execution. Which principles become standards, which standards become systems, and which systems make responsible public and commercial AI easier to deploy?