DAR ES SALAAM, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) have launched an innovative data governance training program for judicial officers, the EAC said in a statement on Wednesday.

The launch of the program, with its inaugural training session held from March 11 to March 13 in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, marks a significant step toward enhancing judicial expertise in data governance, privacy, and legal adjudication, the statement said.

It added that the rise of the digital economy has made data governance a critical issue for the East African region. The program is designed to equip judges with the necessary knowledge and skills to interpret and enforce the proposed EAC Data Protection and Privacy Act, ensuring a harmonized regional approach to data governance in the era of emerging technologies.

According to the statement, with the validation of its data governance policy framework in October 2024, the EAC has made significant progress in advancing data governance initiatives, but the lack of harmonized policies across the member states has hindered efforts to establish a seamless, secure, and legally protected regional digital environment.

"The need for a robust data governance framework has never been more urgent. Proper governance and legislation will significantly contribute to the digital transformation agenda across EAC member states," said EACJ Acting Registrar Christine Mutimura Wekesa.

"This training program ensures that our judicial officers are well-equipped to interpret and enforce legal frameworks on data protection and privacy," added Wekesa.

The EAC is a regional intergovernmental organization of eight member states, namely Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with a mission to promote economic, political, and social integration in East Africa. Enditem

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