Paradigm Initiative sets April 2027 for Digital Rights Forum in Lagos

Stanley Ihedigbo

Pan-African organisation, Paradigm Initiative (PIN), has announced Lagos, Nigeria, as the host city for the 14th edition of the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF27), scheduled for April 13–15, 2027.

The forum will be held under the theme, “Reimagining Agency, Rights and Inclusion in the Digital Age,” as the organisation opens its call for session proposals from stakeholders across Africa and the Global South.

PIN is inviting digital rights advocates, policymakers, researchers, technologists, civil society organisations, media professionals, academics, innovators and other stakeholders to submit session ideas for the 2027 edition.

According to the organisation, the forum will provide a platform to examine how rapid technological developments are reshaping participation in society, the exercise of fundamental rights and access to opportunities.

The discussions are expected to cover issues ranging from artificial intelligence and digital governance to online expression, privacy, digital inclusion and other emerging technologies.

The 2026 edition of DRIF, held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from April 14–16 under the theme, “Building inclusive and resilient digital futures,” attracted 415 in-person participants and featured 112 sessions, alongside several reports and product launches.

DRIF27 will return to Nigeria, where Paradigm Initiative was founded and where the inaugural edition of the forum was hosted.

The organisers said the 2027 forum would provide opportunities for conversations, practical sessions, debates, workshops and other forms of knowledge exchange around emerging digital rights and inclusion challenges.

The call for session proposals is aligned with 10 sub-themes: Digital identity; Trust and accountability; data protection and privacy; cyber governance; artificial intelligence and emerging technologies; Digital inclusion and marginalised groups; Digital public infrastructure; digital transformation towards the sustainable development goals; Children’s rights Online; and information integrity and democracy.

PIN said the session proposal process remains central to the development of DRIF because it enables the forum to reflect diverse experiences, perspectives and realities across Africa and the Global South.
DRIF27 will be organised in collaboration with selected partners, whose names will be announced at a later date.

Interested stakeholders have until October 18, 2026, to submit their session proposals through the DRIF portal.