This is a 90-minute virtual webinar on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, 15:00-16:30 SAST (16:00 EAT / 14:00 WAT / 18:30 India / 10:00 Brazil / 15:00 CEST), hosted jointly by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the University of Johannesburg Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership (CADL) and the Datasphere Initiative.
South–South cooperation on AI and data governance has produced shared declarations but little negotiating leverage. The constraint is not political will, which is plentiful, but capacity: the standing technical, legal and institutional machinery needed to hold a position once it is taken. Regulatory sandboxes are one of the few instruments that build that machinery directly, because they generate the evidence, regulatory experience and cross-border working relationships that negotiating positions rest on. If this is right, sandboxes deserve a larger place in South–South cooperation than they currently have.
The webinar is not another statement of principle. It asks what forms of leverage have actually materialised since the Global South was placed at the centre of AI governance discussions, and what standing capacity (a negotiator briefing function, a shared evidence base, a sandbox arrangement) would allow coordination before and during negotiations rather than after positions have hardened.
The webinar will feature speaker interventions, a moderated exchange and a respondent with direct experience of a live negotiation. We are inviting policymakers, diplomats, researchers, civil-society and technical-community actors working on AI and data governance across the Global South.
Date: 4 November.
Time: 15:00-16:30 SAST / 16:00 – 17:30 EAT / 14:00 – 15:30 WAT / 18:30 – 20:00 India / 10:00 – 11:30 Brazil / 15:00 – 16:30 CEST.
Duration: 90 minutes.
Modality: Virtual webinar (Zoom Webinar).
Registration Link: Here.