Session
Organizer 1: Rachel Magege, POLLICY
Organizer 2: Bonaventure Saturday, 🔒
Organizer 3: Bobina Zulfa, Pollicy
Organizer 2: Bonaventure Saturday, 🔒
Organizer 3: Bobina Zulfa, Pollicy
Speaker 1: Rachel Magege, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 2: Bonaventure Saturday, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 3: Bobina Zulfa, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 2: Bonaventure Saturday, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 3: Bobina Zulfa, Civil Society, African Group
Moderator
Rachel Magege, Civil Society, African Group
Online Moderator
Bonaventure Saturday, Civil Society, African Group
Rapporteur
Rachel Magege, Civil Society, African Group
Format
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: Comfortability, everyone can see each other, and they will feel that speakers are not towering over them but rather seated evenly with them in the roundtable, guiding them through an interesting conversation. As speakers, we are also learning every day about digital asset inheritance practices. 60 minutes is enough for this session, where the first 20-25 minutes will be for laying the ground work of the session and walking everyone through the topic, and the remaining minutes will be open floor engagement. In the first part, we will also be using pop-up question style as we lay the foundation of the session.
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: Comfortability, everyone can see each other, and they will feel that speakers are not towering over them but rather seated evenly with them in the roundtable, guiding them through an interesting conversation. As speakers, we are also learning every day about digital asset inheritance practices. 60 minutes is enough for this session, where the first 20-25 minutes will be for laying the ground work of the session and walking everyone through the topic, and the remaining minutes will be open floor engagement. In the first part, we will also be using pop-up question style as we lay the foundation of the session.
Policy Question(s)
A. How are digital assets defined in Africa and do they fall within the scope of property and property rights?
B. What are the current legal and regulatory frameworks (in the focus countries and regionally in Africa) that provide for digital asset inheritance?
B. What role can digital and tech platforms play in making digital asset inheritance easier?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Generally, participants will be encouraged to constantly recognize the importance of integrating digital assets into estate planning processes. Through comprehensive estate planning, individuals ought to update their estate planning documents, such as wills and trusts, to include provisions for the inheritance of their digital assets.
Members of Academia and Civil Society actors will be encouraged to include digital estate planning in their programs/curricula. Tech experts will be reminded to think creatively on how to increase legacy contact features within their platforms and applications.
Government actors will gain better knowledge on the need to enact specific legislation that recognizes digital assets as property, providing clear guidelines for their inheritance, specifically how to locate and identify digital assets within a deceased person's estate, how to gain access to and control over digital assets after the owner's death, and how to manage or distribute it to the heirs.
Description:
What happens to one’s online life and digital wealth when they pass away? In Africa, the answer is evolving fast and it is time that every member of society took notice. Inspired by the need to raise awareness and appreciation of the value of digital assets, this workshop will look at examples from Ghana, Malawi & Tanzania to discuss the complex landscape of digital asset management and inheritance in Africa, a region grappling with rapid technological advancement alongside deeply rooted traditional asset inheritance practices. This will be an open engagement session, encouraging feedback from all participants. One of the discussion points in this workshop will be digital infrastructure and secure storage systems. In this respect, participants will be able to examine how technological platforms can generate trust with consumers who supply data every single day, and how that data can be handled and inherited after the consumer's death. At the end, the workshop hopes to foster more asset planning schemes in our daily lives, specifically in will writing. We will encourage all to see the need to incorporate digital assets in their wills, and prepare for how those assets are to be managed after death, such as obtaining passwords and security locks, and getting transferring approvals from digital platforms.
What happens to one’s online life and digital wealth when they pass away? In Africa, the answer is evolving fast and it is time that every member of society took notice. Inspired by the need to raise awareness and appreciation of the value of digital assets, this workshop will look at examples from Ghana, Malawi & Tanzania to discuss the complex landscape of digital asset management and inheritance in Africa, a region grappling with rapid technological advancement alongside deeply rooted traditional asset inheritance practices. This will be an open engagement session, encouraging feedback from all participants. One of the discussion points in this workshop will be digital infrastructure and secure storage systems. In this respect, participants will be able to examine how technological platforms can generate trust with consumers who supply data every single day, and how that data can be handled and inherited after the consumer's death. At the end, the workshop hopes to foster more asset planning schemes in our daily lives, specifically in will writing. We will encourage all to see the need to incorporate digital assets in their wills, and prepare for how those assets are to be managed after death, such as obtaining passwords and security locks, and getting transferring approvals from digital platforms.
Expected Outcomes
One, participants will have a greater understanding of the nature, scope and legal rights of digital assets in the African context. Two, appreciating the different frameworks governing digital assets during life and after death, e.g tech laws, financial laws, probate frameworks, marriage laws etc. Lastly, participants will analyze different stakeholders where aside from governments; digital and tech companies play a huge role in this matter.
Our biggest output will be to create an African-centered visual guidebook focused on providing accessible, culturally relevant and practical steps for individuals and families to navigate the complexities of passing on digital assets. From the feedback and recommendations of our participants, we will integrate clear and easy to understand infographics that demystify the often technical processes of digital asset management and inheritance, highlighting the importance of protecting digital legacies in ways that align with African values of family, inheritance and community.
Hybrid Format: We will advertise my session widely (once approved), inviting all and highlighting that the event will be hybrid. We will ensure to have Zoom (and grateful to IGF for the support), with language interpretation features so that participants with different languages are able to hear, understand and engage. Prior to the workshop, we will have shared highlights, links and summaries connected to this topic so that interested participants can already start to read through and come into the session with a background idea of the topic.
I will ask IGF for consent to record the session so that participants can also return to listen and learn more, even after the session has been completed.