On August 28, 2026, Amb. Prof. Muhammadou M.O. Kah, Ph.D., delivered the following speech at the opening ceremony of the 2026 China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang, Guizhou Province.
His Excellency Ambassador Professor Muhammadou M. O. Kah is a leading scholar of Information Technology and Development in Africa, serving as the Permanent Representative of The Gambia to the Swiss Confederation and Permanent Mission to the United Nations, World Trade Organization, other international organizations in Switzerland, and as a Visiting Scholar at the AI Ethics Lab at Rutgers University.
Hosted by the National Data Administration and organized by the Guizhou Provincial People’s Government, the expo’s theme was “Data Creates Value, Innovation Drives the Future,” with the annual theme “Geotypes—New Paths to Unleash the Value of Data Elements.” Ambassador Ka pointed out that data is the most decisive resource of this century, multiplying through sharing and growing through trust, and called for promoting global data governance through mutually beneficial, equitable, and inclusive partnerships.