Jim starts the session (watch below) by talking about his introduction to data colonialism. He was interviewing potential users of the Terraso software, developed as part of the 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People initiative. He describes his first interview with Kamau Mbogo, who was leading Imarisha Naivasha to revive Lake Naivasha, which had been in danger of drying up.
Jim said, “…as we were wrapping up he turned to me and said, “So what are you doing about data colonialism?” and I looked confused. And he said, “Wait a minute. You’re from Silicon Valley, and you don’t know what data colonialism is?” And I said, “Guilty as charged.” So he politely explained to me how data colonialism affected his organization. He explained that Lake Naivasha, is probably the best studied ecosystem in the Rift Valley, but they don’t have access to any of the data about their own place. “We’re the people who make the decisions about here, but the data is not [available to us].”