By Sophie Tomlinson, Director of Programs, Datasphere Initiative When we first imagined the Sandbox Summer School, we weren’t sure exactly who would show up. We had a strong sense of the need. Around the world, interest in sandboxes was growing. Policymakers were experimenting. Civic technologists were asking questions. Think tanks and funders were paying attention. […] The post What building the first Sandbox Summer School taught me about the field we’re trying to build appeared first ...| The Datasphere Initiative
A new kind of learning space for a new kind of governance The first Sandbox Summer School took place in Lisbon, Portugal, from June 30 to July 4, 2025. Hosted with the support of Católica Global School of Law (CGSL), the Universidade Católica Portuguesa’s hub for transnational legal education, the program brought together regulators, civic […]| The Datasphere Initiative
The Datasphere Initiative is a global network of stakeholders building agile frameworks to responsibly unlock the value of data for all.| The Datasphere Initiative
24 July 2025 — Today, the Datasphere Initiative convened a select group of global leaders for an exclusive Global Sandboxes Forum Insights Session to unveil the Sandbox Assessment Framework (SAF),a first-of-its-kind tool designed to elevate the design, evaluation, and impact of sandboxes for data governance. This high-level virtual event brought together 62 leading voices from […] The post Global Momentum Builds Around Data Governance: Experts Converge for High-Level Sandbox Insights Sess...| The Datasphere Initiative
Explore our interactive map of global data-governance actors. Sign up for early access and connect organizations, funders and themes worldwide.| The Datasphere Initiative
The Datasphere Initiative Africa Forum on Sandboxes for Data is building a pan-African community to enable innovative cross-border data governance solutions. The multistakeholder process invites local, regional, and global experts to explore the ways in which regulatory and operational sandboxes could facilitate responsible data flows and exchange. Sandboxes can help bridge the gap between […]| The Datasphere Initiative
The Africa Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) is a regional initiative that brings together various stakeholders to discuss and address internet-related issues in Africa. This year it took place in Abuja, Nigeria from September 19-21, 2023.| The Datasphere Initiative
Datasphere Observatory Datasphere Observatory Coverage Building on the Datasphere Governance Atlas released in 2022, the Observatory provides a virtual mapping of organizations and funders working on data governance. The platform includes a total of 778 organizations, of which 420 have been categorized and profiled in depth. The mapping aims to help support opportunities for analysis […]| The Datasphere Initiative
The Datasphere Initiative is proud to have the Católica Global School of Law (CGSL), which serves as Universidade Catolica Portuguesa (UCP)’s hub for transnational legal education.as the hosting partner for the inaugural Sandbox Summer School in Lisbon, Portugal, from June 30 to July 4th, 2025. This collaboration enables the summer school to be led by leading experts, scholars, […] The post Católica Global School of Law, the hosting partner of Datasphere Initiative’s Sandbox Su...| The Datasphere Initiative
See who shapes the world’s data governance field. Download the 2025 Datasphere Governance Atlas and start exploring today.| The Datasphere Initiative
Innovation continues to evolve at great speed, yet investment in and meaningful action to address healthcare challenges remains fragmented and is decreasing. The AI revolution comes at a time of acute political polarization and dramatic scaling back of funding for development programmes that support some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. Crucial decisions […] The post Digital health innovation: Are sandboxes a new tool to scale? appeared first on The Datasphere Initiative.| The Datasphere Initiative
The 8th Network of African Data Protection Authorities (NADPA-RAPDP) Conference, held in Abuja, Nigeria, served as a key forum for NADPA-RAPDP members to deliberate on their evolving role in shaping Africa’s digital governance landscape. More than a policy gathering, the conference signaled a shift in how Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) across the continent see themselves; […]| The Datasphere Initiative
Europe’s AI innovation pipeline is a topic of much discussion. Sandboxes are emerging as a tool to test and iterate new technologies and/or unpack complex emerging regulatory environments. This blog explores how AI sandboxes are being used across Europe and identifies some questions as their role in the EU AI Act takes shape. Sandboxes hold […]| The Datasphere Initiative
The Caribbean DPI Summit, held in Kingston, Jamaica from April 8–10, 2025, brought together government leaders, civil society representatives, technologists, researchers, and regional organizations to explore how DPI can serve as a foundation for inclusive, resilient, and people-centered digital transformation across the Caribbean. Organized by the University of the West Indies and Co-Develop, in partnership […] The post DPI in the Caribbean: Building Trust, Going Together appeared first ...| The Datasphere Initiative
In the context of the #Youth4OurDataFuture project, the Datasphere Initiative spoke to a diverse group of young leaders about the role of youth in shaping how data and digital technologies are governed.| The Datasphere Initiative
The Africa Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) is a regional initiative that brings together different stakeholders to address internet-related issues in Africa. This year it took place in Abuja, Nigeria from September 19-21, 2023. The Datasphere Initiative, in collaboration with the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL), organized a roundtable titled “Unlocking Data for African Prosperity: Strategies to […]| The Datasphere Initiative