AI for Cultural Heritage Institute Unveils an AI driven Community-Owned Platform

The African Heritage Vault AI has unveiled an AI driven community-owned platform developed under the AI for Cultural Heritage Institute’s African AI Heritage Labs designed to collect, catalogue, and protect African cultural datasets using data sovereignty controls and ethical AI safeguards.

The platform employs the OCAP principles of (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) adapted from Indigenous data sovereignty frameworks, along with FAIR Data Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), to ensure African communities maintain control over their cultural knowledge and data [user query]. Join us in developing ethical AI algorithms embedded that honors and respect our shared values by visiting the African Heritage Vault AI and request access to sign up for more information.

The African Heritage Vault AI builds and leverages the key principles of:

Ownership

Meaning the African communities collectively own their cultural knowledge and data. Heritage data is not an abstract resource but an extension of cultural identity and sovereignty.

Control

Communities have the right to control all aspects of research and data management, including collection, analysis, interpretation, and how their heritage is shared. The vault prioritizes community data sovereignty protocols and principles. All data contributed to this platform undergo ethics and sovereignty reviews.

Access

Communities must be able to access data about themselves and their heritage. They have decision-making power over who else can access their collective information, and they can set access levels and usage permissions (Open, Restricted, and or Sacred).

Possession

Communities should have physical stewardship of their data. When data is held by third parties, it must be under terms approved by the community.

FAIR Data Principles

We implement FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) to maximize the value and discoverability of African cultural heritage data while respecting community consent and cultural protocols.

Findable

Datasets are assigned unique identifiers and described with rich, culturally-appropriate metadata for discovery.

Accessible

Data is retrievable through clear protocols with community-controlled authentication requirements.

Interoperable

We use open formats and African-relevant vocabularies to ensure data integrates with global heritage systems.

Reusable

Data includes clear licenses, provenance, and meets community standards for ethical reuse.

Ethical AI Development

All datasets and Models on this platform are designed to acknowledge source communities (data owners) and share benefits with contributing relevant communities.

You can visit the site: https://africanheritagevaultai.com/